State of Play Hospitality has announced the promotions of Nicola Blackford and Sam Pollard to chief commercial officer and UK managing director, respectively.
Pollard has held the role of operations director at the experiential leisure operator for over five years, having previously been a multisite manager at D&D London, where he built his career.
He led the operational launch of the group’s bingo concept, Hijingo, in 2021, as well as more recently leading the opening of ping pong concept Bounce at Battersea Power Station.
In his new role as UK MD, Pollard will have full accountability of the group’s UK business.
Blackford joined State of Play last year as commercial director for its UK business. As chief commercial officer, she will lead product development for Bounce and Hijingo, execute the group’s plan to develop international partnerships, and head all major commercial projects outside the group’s existing brands.
State of Play was founded in 2019 following the buyout of Bounce, and now operates three Bounce venues in London as well as its sister concept AceBounce in Chicago.
The group has since gone on to create and operate several more tech-led competitive socialising concepts, and is actively pursuing opportunities internationally to roll out the Hijingo brand.
The group also operates Flight Club under an exclusive licence in North America and has opened six venues across the US to date.
Toby Harris, chief executive of State of Play, commented: “It’s always a real joy promoting top talent from within and that’s very much the case with Nicola and Sam. They are both outstanding Executives who embody all of our leadership values and we are lucky to have them leading such important strategies within the group. Optimising our leadership structure to capitalise on existing and future opportunities is essential as we scale, particularly as we seek to add further concepts and markets to the State of Play platform.”
