New UK #DOOH Business Foris Outdoor
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
Today marks the launch of Foris Outdoor, a new UK digital out-of-home business which says it wants to become the UK’s leading DOOH network of large format digital 48 sheet (D48) landscape roadside screens.
From Left to Right; Jonny Brackenbury, Andy Kelly, Cennydd Roberts
Foris Outdoor is led by Founder and Chief Executive, Cennydd Roberts, an industry veteran with senior roles at Clear Channel, CBS Outdoor, Wildstone and 8 Outdoor (where he was CEO, leaving well before the troubles started) under his belt . The business started trading on November 25, 2019 with the first 20 D48 screens going live from the end of January. The press release states that a further 20 screens will go live each month throughout 2020 and readers will no doubt agree that is some goal (the aim, the press release says is to build the first network of 500 D48 screens by the end of 2021).
The first screens will go live across Glasgow, Barnsley, Barrow in Furness, Warrington, Birmingham, London, Wigan, Manchester and Stoke.
Cennydd Roberts told us “Foris Outdoor plans to deliver more digital large format screens in 2020 than any other UK operator and, by doing so, reaching more and new unique audiences across the UK’s towns and cities. This is a hugely exciting and entrepreneurial period for the out-of-home sector and I’m very excited to be leading a great new business with a big ambition. We are going to replace the paper poster with a network of broadcast digital screens across both small towns and big cities and to every corner of the UK. Our high-quality digital screens will provide advertisers with a cost-effective UK wide distribution, at scale to meet the rising demand of DOOH.”
Foris Outdoor is backed by a consortium of investors including Jonny Brackenbury, previously Director of Credit Suisse and an early investor and long-standing board Director of Soho House, and Andrew Kelly, the founder and owner of Open Outdoor which he sold to Dentsu Aegis Network. They will both join the Foris Outdoor Board in early 2020 as Chairman and Non-Executive Director respectively.
Jonny Brackenbury said “I am very excited to be working with a fantastic team in a growing sector, one that means more than two thirds of the population see a digital screen every week. Digital out-of-home is not only outperforming many other traditional media but critically, it is embracing technology to ensure it is a fundamental part of the digital media plans.”
Cennydd Roberts will be supported in the Foris Outdoor leadership team by Commercial Director, Pete Goldring, formerly VP UK Sales for the DSP iotec Global, YuMe, Clear Channel, and Primesight. Goldring’s appointment brings specialist skills as digital out-of-home continues to invest heavily and transact via digital platforms and exchanges. Additional appointments include Jane Garry of Adshel Australia, APN and Clear Channel as Head of Operations; and Lucy Holder as Head of Sales.
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