Thursday, 28 March 2024
NewsRecruitment

Shift Active recruits Laura Bolton, Freeride adds Tom Foy

In today’s recruitment news, Shift Active Media has appointed Laura Bolton as its PR Manager, while the Freeride agency has made Tom Foy a partner in its senior leadership team.

Bolton assumes a role that will oversee the management of the global public relations for a selection of Shift’s clients, including Continental Bicycle Tires, LOOK, Selle Royal and World Bicycle Relief. She will be joining a growing team that has already been securing global media coverage across cycling, news and lifestyle titles in the wake of a surge of popularity in bikes in the last few months.

Laura brings to the team her experience and press contacts gained working on a roster of big brands during her time at London-based Hope&Glory PR with the likes of Guinness, Airbnb, Cliff and LinkedIn. Laura is also a Cambridge graduate, keen road cyclist and novice triathlete.

Laura joined the team remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. She said: “Despite the unorthodox start to the role by working from home, this has been an incredibly exciting time to be joining the cycling industry with more people enjoying riding than ever before.

“What really impressed me about Shift was the team’s deep knowledge of the cycling media, combined with the ability to tap into the extensive networks the wider agency and Play Sports Group provides. You can’t help but feel the passion for all things bikes working here and I’m really excited to be able to be part of that and land quality media exposure for my clients.”

Laura is now contactable by email here.

Over at Freeride, Foy brings to the team over 18 years’ experience experience running global campaigns for leading sports, luxury and entertainment brands, Foy brings a depth of experience spanning PR, content strategy, sponsorship activation and editorial.

Having held senior positions at the largest global agencies including Weber Shandwick, Edelman and WPP, working with brands including Red Bull, Aston Martin and Microsoft, he will spearhead the development of Freeride’s business offering, client services and creative communications capabilities. A long-time avid cyclist and cycling blogger, he brings insights from thousands of kilometres in the saddle on and off-road.

Freeride is the integrated communications agency from the team behind the media channel, Cycling Pulse. Starting as a Facebook page in 2017 to offer a fresh and youthful perspective on the world of cycling, Cycling Pulse has since became one of the biggest online communities in the sport.

Commenting on his new role, Tom Foy said: “I have followed the meteoric rise of Cycling Pulse since the beginning, so when I learned the team had launched Freeride, bringing a forward-thinking integrated agency approach to some of cycling’s biggest brands, it was an opportunity too good to miss. I believe there is huge potential to evolve the role of communications in what is a pivotal time for the industry, and I’m excited by what we can achieve together.”

Oliver Attinger, Founder and Managing Director of Freeride said: “Tom’s appointment marks the beginning of an important next phase of our rapid growth, and it’s a huge win to have someone of his calibre and experience joining the team. His expertise will enable us to broaden our offering even further, provide senior strategic counsel to our clients and play a critical role in the ongoing development of the business.”

For businesses looking to recruit industry talent, Cycling Industry News’ Jobs Board is frequently updated with fresh vacancies and is watched by some of the trade’s brightest talents. To place a role with us, contact the team here.