The appointments form part of a wider aim to build on and expand the company’s international business.
Funrise International has appointed two new general managers for Europe and expanded its international team to support its international growth strategy.
Annie Sullivan has become general manager, UK, Northern Europe & MEA, effective from December and will now be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the UK/Ireland region as well as the EMEA territory. She had spent the past five years at Funrise as commercial director EMEA and, in her new role, will expand her leadership across the whole of Northern Europe and continue to develop the MEA business along with the support of her team.
“During Annie’s time at Funrise, she has been able to grow the EMEA business exponentially with various licensed and IP brands within our portfolio. I’m confident she and her team will continue to build the business even further and grow our company’s distribution,” said Martin Good, senior vice president, International.
Sebastien Cardi stepped into the newly created role of general manager, Southern Europe on 1st January and is now responsible for the entirety of Southern Europe. Since joining Funrise in 2017, he has worked to grow the business and achieve distribution for Funrise’s products across all retailers within the French market.
Martin said: “Sebastien’s proven leadership skills in tackling the very tough but growing French business will see his responsibilities expand across the whole of Southern Europe.”
To help support the company’s international growth, Benn Bramwell has joined the Funrise team as marketing manager UK & EMEA. He will work closely with the Global Brand Team and be responsible for implementing marketing strategies across all functions, including linear, digital and social media planning, as well as trade marketing, PR and the eCommerce business.
Annie Sullivan said: “We are very excited to welcome Benn to the Funrise team to help drive our global brand strategies and grow our business in Europe even further.”
The Funrise International team can be visited at London Toy Fair, Stand G90
