Super League club Hull Kingston Rovers have today announced the appointment of Paul Blanchard, 42, as the new Chief Executive at Craven Park.

Blanchard, Sales and Marketing Director at Surrey County Cricket Club, will take up his new position before the end of July following the departure of Paul Lakin to Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

The announcement draws to an end the Rovers’ quest to find a chief that has a proven track record in driving the businesses of sports clubs at the top level, as well as managing the commercial side of major stadium developments. And with the ambitious Craven Park North Stand project at planning stage Chairman Neil Hudgell is delighted to get his man.

He said: “It’s fantastic news that Paul’s coming to join us at Rovers. He has an outstanding pedigree across a range of sports, and his experience at the top level in managing high turnover operations will be invaluable.

“I’ve seen the excellent work that Paul has been doing at the Brit Oval and one of the main reasons for bringing him up here is his proven ability to maximise the commercial gains of a new stadium development.

“We’ve been working very hard to keep improving things both on and off the field, but we’re not about to rest on our laurels. By the end of next season we hope to have a ground capacity of 14,000 which we know we can fill. But to do that we need the best available quality on the pitch and in the boardroom. So it is absolutely the right time to bring Paul in.”

Blanchard was recognised in the cricket world for the commercial success of Surrey’s development at the Brit Oval. The £25m OCS Stand, replacing the Vauxhall Road end seating, was opened in 2005 and had astonishing exposure during the last test of the legendary Ashes series. The stand, which houses 2,500 hospitality covers picked up several architectural awards, and was project managed by Drivas Jones, who are now being consulted by Hull KR on the Craven Park North Stand development.

Blanchard built on that launch to record the club’s best ever financial year in 2007, with a turnover of £23m and a retained profit of over £750k. And he was responsible for the largest domestic sponsorship deal in cricket with Brit Insurance.

Before being headhunted by Surrey in 2004, Blanchard enjoyed a successful four years as Head of Sales and Marketing at Southampton Football Club. Here too, his ability to exploit the commercial opportunities presented by a stadium development was noted by Hudgell, who said: “Before Southampton moved to the St Mary’s Stadium they didn’t really need the commercial infrastructure that Paul could bring because they could fill the old ground anyway. But after they moved it was a different proposition altogether.”

In 2003 Southampton generated a record turnover of £50m and clearly Hudgell wants to tap into this kind of success. Before working at Southampton, Blanchard was the Marketing Director of the Scottish Premier League, securing the league’s first title sponsorship with The Bank of Scotland. Prior to that, he ran the marketing operation of NFL Europe franchise, The Scottish Claymores.

Blanchard will now be looking to attract valuable corporate sponsorship as part of his strategy for the Craven Park stadium, as well as taking the club’s merchandising quality and output to a higher level.

Blanchard’s move brings him back to Yorkshire after a twenty year absence. Brought up in Liverpool, he graduated at Leeds University with an honours degree in Economics and Econometrics. And he’s looking forward to returning north. He said: “I met Neil and Rob Crossland (vice chairman) and I was hugely impressed by what they’ve already done and the stages in which they’ve done it. The progress at Craven Park has been eminently sensible. In sport you see some absolute horror stories of people just getting carried away and forgetting that the club is a much wider business than the pitch touchlines.

“They have an exciting vision here of a major stadium development and a club that really is at the heart of the community. Back in the late seventies and early eighties Hull KR was as big as anything in the game. So there’s a huge latent support here that is already starting to recognise the ambition of the club. If I can help to coordinate and unlock the whole potential then it could be fantastic. Frankly, I jumped at the chance to take on this role.”

This year Blanchard has watched the Robins establish themselves as genuine top six contenders. He said: “I know we’ve had one or two setbacks but there’s definitely a momentum behind the season now. The players have shown that we’ve got the stomach to dig in and fight hard to get where we want to be. It bodes well, when the team’s playing well we look a strong force. I’m very excited by the prospect of working with one of the best coaches in the game in Justin Morgan.

“My job now is to develop the club and the Hull KR brand in manageable stages both on and off the field. We have to ensure that we prioritise effectively and ensure we have sufficient resource and support to deliver the board’s exciting vision for the club. I’m really looking forward to starting the job in July.”