Senior Leadership Team

Catherine Ugwu MBE

Director and Executive Producer

Catherine Ugwu is an Executive Producer and Creative Director with over 20 years proven experience delivering some of the world’s largest Ceremonies and most prestigious public and broadcast events. She was most recently the Artistic Director and Executive Producer for the 48th UAE National Day Celebration in Abu Dhabi, holding overall responsibility for the creative development, production and execution of the show.

Catherine’s previous roles include: Lead Consultant for the Baku World Expo 2025 Bid with overall responsibility for appointing and managing all International Consultants for the bid and overseeing the development of the brand, masterplan, theme and operational plans, Director of Ceremonies and Executive Producer for the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games with overall responsibility for the creation and delivery of the Opening & Closing Ceremonies, Games Launch Event and Regional Events Programme, Ceremonies Consultant to World Expo Dubai 2020, Director of Ceremonies for the Baku 2015 European Games with overall responsibility for the delivery of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Torch Relay and Cultural Programme, Executive Producer of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies, Executive Producer for the Save The Children IF Campaign, Executive Producer of the Glasgow Handover Ceremony at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, Senior Producer for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Ceremonies, Senior Producer for the Opening Ceremony for the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Producer for the Closing Ceremony for the XVII Manchester Commonwealth Games and Producer for the Millennium Dome Opening Ceremony in 2000. She was a founder and Director of the Live Arts Development Agency and Deputy Director of Live Art at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London. She has been a consultant for numerous National and International businesses and public organisations.

Catherine was awarded an MBE in the Queens New Years 2013 honours list for her significant contribution to the successful delivery of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies. As well as the Dostlug Order (Order of Friendship) from the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in recognition of her significant contribution to the Baku 2015 European Games.

Kate Hinchliffe

Producer

Kate has worked as a Producer in the creative industry for over 12 years. Highlights include live events for Thomson Reuters, Samsung, Vodafone, NBCUniversal, Save the Children and the World Islamic Economic Forum. Kate first turned her attention to Ceremonies at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and went on to produce the Flame Capture Ceremony and city-centre Torch Relay of the Baku 2015 European Games. She also produced the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the One Young World Summit 2015 in Bangkok. Kate was the Producer of the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, a consultant for the Baku World Expo 2025 bid and most recently was Senior Producer for the 48th UAE National Day Celebration.

Mark Smith

Head of Business and Finance

Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte before devoting seven years of award-winning work to the planning, implementation and successful delivery of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Handover Ceremony at Beijing 2008. He subsequently served as a trusted financial advisor at the BBC, and Head of Finance for the Ceremonies of both the Baku 2015 European Games and the 44th UAE National Day 2015 in Abu Dhabi. Mark was the Head of Business & Finance of the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games Ceremonies, a consultant for the Baku World Expo 2025 bid and most recently was Head of Business and Finance for the 48th UAE National Day Celebration .