NEW BOSS UNVEILED FOR DRAGONS
FORMER senior executive with DIY giant B&Q, Mike Davies, is the new managing director of professional rugby region the Dragons.
Cwmbran-born Mr Davies joins the Dragons with more than 30 years’ experience with the retailer – where WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips was also once its chief executive.
He takes up the role at the Rodney Parade-based club, which is owned by the WRU, next Monday. It follows the departure last year of the Dragons’ chief executive Stuart Davies.
Mr Davies held several senior leadership roles during his time at B&Q. The board of the Dragons described him as having a proven track record in delivering results, as well as building and developing high performing commercial teams.
Now living in Monmouth, he will lead all the club’s commercial, marketing, community and finance operations.
Mr Davies said: “My roots are embedded in Gwent and I’m delighted to be joining the Dragons at this hugely exciting time for rugby in our region.
“This role combines my passion for Welsh rugby, and for sport generally, as well as for being able to offer customers the best experience in a very challenging business environment.
“I have been incredibly humbled by the level of support from fans and sponsors alike during a difficult period of transition. I understand that we will need to offer the best experience possible, so I would like to thank them for their support and I can’t wait to start building positive relationships over the coming months.
“David Buttress [Dragons chairman] has set out an impressive vision for the Dragons that must be sustainable, and he has a heartfelt desire to engage with the whole of Newport and the wider Gwent community. I’m sure that we can engage with all our regional clubs in order to get more people playing, enjoying and watching rugby.
“With my local knowledge and leadership experience, I’m looking forward to driving the organisation and working closely with the team, sponsors and fans to build something we can all be proud of for years to come.”
Mr Buttress, the founder and former chief executive of global online takeaway firm Just Eat, said: “We must improve every aspect of the organisation to be the best we can possibly be.
“We need to be bold, ambitious and relentless in our off field activities. We are determined, that over time we will become a positive example of commercial execution in professional rugby.
“We need to dramatically grow our revenues, as a result we need a strong leadership team who bring both experience and innovation, particularly in sales and marketing.
“As a board and organisation we are delighted to have secured Mike to lead our team, we know he will play an integral role in implementing our tactical plans and long-term strategy.
“We have a great deal to do in the coming years.”
The appointment completes the senior management recruitment process at the club.
WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips insists the Dragons are ahead of schedule despite the prospect of the side ending the season with the worst-ever record in Welsh regional history.
Bernard Jackman’s Dragons are set to end their first campaign under WRU control next week. And their record of just two wins and two draws in the Guinness PRO14 means only the South African newcomers Southern Kings have a worse return this season.
The region haven’t won in the PRO14 since beating Southern Kings in Newport last September.
And the 34-32 defeat to Zebre on Saturday extended a three-year losing streak away from home to 33 fixtures, since the Dragons beat Benetton in Treviso in March 2015.
No Welsh region have had such a miserable win ratio since their inception back in the 2003-04 season, and only Aironi (2011) and Southern Kings, to date, have achieved less victories.
While results remain woeful on the field, Phillips is encouraged by the progress made off the pitch led by chairman David Buttress.
“We are probably slightly ahead of where I thought we would be,” Phillips told the South Wales Argus.
“I know there is a lot of attention on performance on the pitch, and that’s got to be a factor, but that’s not where my focus goes, it’s on the foundations and getting the right things in place.
“We have got a board in place that we are pleased with and are delighted with David and the enthusiasm and energy that he has brought.
“The board have a strategy in place now and a very good commercial plan that I have seen in the last few weeks. From a business and commercial perspective we are in very good hands.”
With a major overhaul of the squad coming in the summer with as many as 16 new players arriving, including Welsh internationals Ross Moriarty and Richard Hibbard, Phillips is urging patience.
“The first thing for a coach is always the player roster and some easy and some not-so-easy decisions to be made,” he said.
“Bernard has not shirked that and has grasped the nettle. It’s outside my area of expertise, but he has put a lot of energy into that and there will be quite a different squad for next year.
“My job is looking at whether in three-to-five years something will work, and if I look at a match-bymatch situation I will get lured into the wrong thing.
“Of course, it would have been nice to win a couple more games and next year that will be needed.
“But right from the outset we said it would take three-to-five years to get something moving with solid foundations.”
■ Davies is new Dragons managing director: Page 25