Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, joint chief executive officers of the Ambassador Theatre Group, have stepped down from those roles. They co-founded the company in 1992 with just one West End theatre, the Duke of York's. The group now operates 45 venues across the West End, the U.K. regions, the U.S. (including Broadway's Lyric Theatre and the yet-to-open Hudson) and Australia.
They are being succeeded by Mark Cornell as group chief executive officer, with Adam Kenwright stepping down from the theatrical marketing firm he co-founded, AKA (which has offices in London, New York, Europe and Australia), to become executive vice-president.
Panter and Squire will remain involved with ATG, both continuing as directors of ATG and remaining as shareholders in the company. Squire will also be deputy chairman of the ATG Group and remain chairman of Sonia Friedman Productions, a subsidiary owned by ATG. Panter will continue as executive producer on some existing and future ATG projects. He will remain chairman and producer of The Rocky Horror Show worldwide, and ATG will continue to partner and invest with him in his future productions.
In addition, they are acquiring the Trafalgar Studios from ATG where, according to press materials, "they will evolve a distinctive artistic direction for the theatre."
In a press statement, Greg Dyke, chairman of ATG, commented, “ATG is a great British success story. Howard and Rosemary have done a brilliant job over 25 years in building ATG from one theatre into the biggest live theatre company in the world. ATG has become an amazingly successful business and it has been a remarkable achievement and will always be seen as such."
Cornell was previously managing director of Sotheby's Europe and prior to that, spent ten years at LVMH, including as president and chief executive officer of Moet Hennessy USA and chief executive officer of Krug Champagne.
In a press statement, he commented, "Sir Howard and Rosemary have provided truly inspirational leadership to so many at ATG over a long period of time. I look forward to their continued involvement. I am excited by the prospect of helping to shape and lead the next chapter in the life of this remarkable company."
