Convene’s UK head leaves to join Cavendish Venues

Convene’s UK head, Elliott Sparsis, has left the company to become chief executive at fellow events space operator Cavendish Venues. In a LinkedIn post announcing his move, Sparsis said: “I’m at a pivotal point in my career where I strongly feel the need to follow my entrepreneurial spirit… There has never been a more exciting time in the real estate industry to challenge, create and deliver a truly unprecedented offer.” He thanked Convene chief executive Ryan Simonetti for the “incredible opportunities and guidance provided” during his time at Convene. Sparsis has been at Convene for just over five years. He started in 2018 as vice president of real estate and became head of UK two years later. Prior to Convene, Sparsis spent six years at Blackstone as a leasing and asset manager. Responding to Sparsis’s move, Convene said it is “actively growing our leadership team in the UK”. The company has named Alan Bentley as its chief financial officer. “The ever-changing future of work and rapidly evolving needs of our clients make this a profound moment in time for Convene and we are proactively upgrading our finance function to be well-prepared for imminent growth opportunities,” said Simonetti. Bentley is a chartered professional accountant with more than 35 years’ experience across the hospitality, real estate, and retail sectors. Over the past two years, he has acted as consultant to Convene and advised the company on its acquisition of etc.venues in February 2023. In his new role he will oversee the finance and accounting organisations as well as legal, procurement, and other operational activities. The move comes a week after Simonetti predicted that the flex industry would enter a new phase of industry consolidation following WeWork’s bankruptcy filing, and alluded that Convene might be on the acquisition trail. “Personally, this is one of the biggest opportunities I see for Convene [in] the next 24-36 months,” said Simonetti. “In the end, I believe you will see two, maybe three, global platforms with real scale that operate multiple brands, similar to the hospitality industry.” To send feedback, e-mail chante.bohitige@eg.co.uk or tweet @bohitige or @EGPropertyNews Photo: Tom Campbell