Louise Close is Head of the Events at the Evening Standard. Louise has a proven track record of launching successful event concepts and over 25 years' experience across media and corporate sectors. She is responsible for the strategic growth of the ambitious ES Live business, leading commercial and operational teams to optimise the current portfolio, create new scalable products and provide clients integrated solutions to offer the full marketing mix across ES channels. Career highlights include the delivery of Team GB House for the London 2012 Olympic Games; developing high-end international events for publication, BOAT International, aligning with the luxury lifestyle focus of the brand and providing high quality content for digital and print platforms; establishing the award winning international Extreme Sailing Series, a stadium racing circuit designed for spectators; implementation of events for key corporate sponsorships within the Barclays Bank's portfolio, including the Barclays Premiership.