After a whirlwind start to the year, we’re delighted to announce the arrival of three new senior hires who have recently joined the team at Boxbar.
Yonas Blay joins as Chief Sales Officer (CSO), Alex Ogilvie as Director of Marketing and James Livingston as Head of Business Development.
These fresh faces arrive at a significant time of momentum for the business and ahead of what is due to be a landmark summer season of events for us and our one-of-a-kind automated, self-service bar solution; Boxbar!
Yonas Blay, Chief Sales Officer
From former roles including Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director at ticketing and event technology outfits, Event Genius and Lyte respectively, Yonas Blay brings a wealth of experience in sales leadership to Boxbar as Chief Sales Officer. Yonas has demonstrated an exceptional track record of driving revenue growth in the live events market, leveraging key partnerships with the likes of BST Hyde Park, Coachella, Primavera Sound and Mad Cool during his 20+ year career to date.
Outside the office you’ll most likely find Yonas in a festival field. With eight years at Download, six years at Glastonbury and five years at Reading, it’s safe to say festivals are his happy place.
As CSO, Yonas will spearhead our global sales strategy and will join Reshad Hossenally (CEO and Co-founder), Andrew Thubron (COO and Co-founder) and James Bott (CCO) on our senior leadership team.
Alex Ogilvie, Director of Marketing
The response we’ve received from the industry to our technology so far has been incredible and now’s the time to spread the word further. Alex joins the business as Director of Marketing to help us do just that, leading on all things marketing, brand and communication.
With over 10 years industry experience, Alex is teaming up with Boxbar Co-founder Reshad for the
second time after several successful years building brands in the worlds of ticketing and event technology. When he’s not working hard to tell the Boxbar story–and depending on the time of year–you’ll either find Alex training for marathons or down the front of his local gig room or club space.
James Livingston, Head of Business Development
Rounding off the new additions is James Livingston. James has made the move from Hong Kong based ticketing and RFID solutions company, Zicket where he led business development across APAC, UAE and European territories.
James knows events and brings over 10 years experience cultivating strategic business opportunities in live events with him. In a previous life he was programming events featuring the likes of electronic music heavyweights Marshmello, Oliver Heldens, Chase & Status and Martin Garrix.
A keen West Ham and New Orleans Saints fan and event tech obsessive, James lives on the South Coast with his family and dog Winston and comes on board as Head of Business Development to forge new partnerships and drive growth across our expanding portfolio.
These key appointments mark an exciting and significant milestone for us as a company as we kick start a big period of growth and continue to evolve and innovate within the events, venues, and festivals landscape.
"We are thrilled to welcome Yonas, Alex, and James to the Boxbar family. It’s amazing to be in a position to bring such talent into the business as we embark on the next phase of our journey." said CEO and Co-founder, Reshad Hossenally. "2024 is set to be a transformational year for us all. Our technology is something new for the events and hospitality industries but the response from partners and the sector at large has been amazing. We can’t wait to continue growing the team and help more and more partners deliver better fan experiences and business outcomes."
If you’d like to speak to one of the team about how you could reinvent your bars with Boxbar's automated, self-service bar technology, get in touch today.