Manchester United’s wholesale changes at executive level have ramped up further, with the club’s head of human resources Annie Hale, the club’s commercial director Florence Lafaye and the club’s chief commercial development officer James Holroyd all to leave the club.
It continues the radical transformation that United’s executive leadership team (ELT) has undergone since the club conducted a “strategic review” after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS acquired a minority stake in the club in early 2024. United sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insisted the executives have not been forced out but have chosen to leave.
Ratcliffe’s remit was originally control of sporting operations, with the Glazer family retaining majority ownership of United, but this has since expanded into INEOS also appearing to widen its scope to include the business and operations at the club.
These latest departures from United follow Richard Arnold as chief executive, Patrick Stewart (formerly the club’s chief legal counsel) as interim chief executive, Victoria Timpson as CEO of alliances and partnerships, Cliff Baty as chief financial officer, John Murtough as football director, Phil Lynch as CEO of Digital Products and Experiences and former communications chief Ellie Norman.
Arnold (left) and Murtough (centre) were two high-profile departures at United in the last few years (Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
Hale’s role over the past year under INEOS has largely focused on overseeing the club’s widely reported redundancy processes, instructed by the new regime, with 250 staff laid off last summer and up to 200 set to follow in the coming months. She is expected to see through the redundancy program. It would be understandable if Hale has found the process of multiple rounds of “rightsizing” and reducing United’s headcount to be personally difficult as long-standing colleagues departed the club. According to LinkedIn, her job title changed to people & transformation director in September, which reflects INEOS’ recently declared plans to “transform” the club’s finances — including those hundreds of redundancies.
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Lafaye has been part of the club’s industry-leading commercial division, which under the guidance of Timpson, helped the club strike major deals with Adidas and Snapdragon in recent seasons. Holroyd, meanwhile, has been the primary conduit with Adidas in a deal most recently extended in 2023, despite the team’s underperformance, for £900m over a ten-year period.
It all leaves Collette Roche, the club’s chief operating officer, as the sole survivor from the former ELT which preceded the strategic review. Her role appears to have changed also, as she now also has responsibilities managing certain affairs at the club’s Carrington training ground.
INEOS has set about building its own executive team, with Omar Berrada hired from Manchester City as chief executive, while Marc Armstrong recently began as chief business officer after being poached from Paris Saint-Germain.
Long-standing INEOS personnel such as Dave Brailsford have taken on responsibilities at Old Trafford, while INEOS executive Roger Bell is now chief financial officer at United and Gary Hemingway, an INEOS projects specialist, is now working on football data analytics and infrastructure projects.
Jason Wilcox was hired as technical director while Christopher Vivell, formerly of Chelsea and the Red Bull Group, is working on recruitment. United last year infamously hired Dan Ashworth, paying Newcastle United millions to obtain his services, before then letting him go within five months, costing the club millions more.
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(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
