Luke who’s shining as an unheralded hero at Villa
THIS is the man who has started to transform the club behind the scenes He’s unlikely to become a familiar face with fans and some supporters may even question his importance.
But chief commercial officer Luke Organ is taking Aston Villa into areas they have previously never experienced.
So much are his qualities that Villa’s top brass now recognise him as one of the brightest commercial leaders on the market and that must surely be a good thing for the club.
Organ was responsible for sourcing the new shirt sponsor which will be revealed next month and he’s currently working on projects that will help Villa increase revenue beyond the football side of the business.
Organ has a wealth of experience in the marketing industry.
His most recent work was with Wasps Rugby Club and the Ricoh Arena where he combined his role as group commercial director.
Prior to that, he worked for the Lotus F1 Team and continued to build his rising profile after gaining experience from a number of other sport and leisure projects in the past.
Described as hard-working, efficient and likeable by those who have worked with him, he’s been known to get the job done in a friendly and affable way.
Organ also has links to China having worked there in the past.
At Lotus he helped establish and maintain partnerships during a twoyear period as commercial manager.
And at Wasps he was influential in wrapping up huge sponsorship deals that helped secure the financial success of the club.
Organ restructured his team to help maximise the potential and it worked wonders.
One of the stand-out sponsorship deals was agreeing a seven-figure contract with world-leading technology company, Ericsson. The 10-year-deal saw the Ricoh Arena’s Exhibition Hall take on the Ericsson name. In turn, the venue now provides visitors with some of the best connectivity found in any venue in the UK. At Villa he has been on board for six months now and is settling into his new surroundings. As well as securing a new shirt sponsorship deal, the bright and innovative individual is working on sourcing other new partners and he’s also reshaping the digital side of things. We haven’t heard too much from him, largely because it’s early days in his claret and blue career and also because t h e busi- est period in his department the summer months.
He did explain why Villa decided to close down their city centre club shop and ticket office to focus on the stadium store, though.
Villa recently signed a retail partnership with Fanatics, one of the world’s largest retailers of licensed sports merchandise, a company who works with clubs such as Chelsea, Man United and Real Madrid.
Organ said: “Naturally, we have reviewed our operation and can see a number of opportunities and areas to explore and change while ensuring we deliver the best fan retail experience we can.
“With Fanatics help we are confident our retail offering will grow and expand to new levels.”
Chief executive Keith Wyness, the man who recruited him from Wasps, certainly believes in Organ.
He said recently: “I think Luke is over is
Villa chief executive Keith Wyness
the brightest young commercial guy in the market just now.
“There are a number of initiatives he is working on which are very different, very unique. We’ve got some good thinking going on.”
And there are a number of glowing references on his LinkedIn page, including this from former Wasps HR director Rosie Ranganthan...
“Sometimes you are fortunate to work with people who are the complete package – capable, professional and thoroughly decent. “Luke is all of those and more. “He is one of the smartest commercial directors I have worked with.
“He is bright, inspiring and, working with him at Wasps, I saw first hand how he was able to rebuild a commercial team.
“It wasn’t easy and Luke had the energy, resilience and passion to make it happen.”