Warren Partners circling for new Sharks CEO

Sale Sharks have retained sponsors Warren Partners to search for the new CEO of the Rugby Union club, following yesterdayís departure of Niels de Vos, who takes up the post of chief executive of UK Athletics.

The independent executive search firm, which has recently entered its second year of sponsorship with Sale, has been tasked to find the next CEO of the club before the 2007/8 season begins in August.

Commenting on the assignment, Mike Petty, Warren Partners director, said: ìNiels de Vos has done a fantastic job as CEO of Sale Sharks, utilising his experience as commercial director of the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. Since taking on the role in August 2002, he has built Sale Sharks into a well-respected, profitable brand and moved the team to a larger ground at Edgeley Park in Stockport, culminating in the Guinness Premiership Championship win in 2005/6.

ìCrowd numbers have also more than doubled under his leadership, so it is important that de Vosí successor builds on those foundations by considering options to further increase the commerciality of the club. One way of achieving this will be to look at ways of using the facilities at Edgeley Park to maximise revenue.

ìOf course, de Vosí background is in business rather than sport, and we expect there to be significant international interest in the CEO role from a variety of industry sectors. Having built up an in-depth understanding of the club and its values over the course of our sponsorship agreement, we are certain that we will find the ideal successor.î