Jayne Pearce
Director, Pearce International
Jayne Pearce sees solutions instead of problems and swears by her very personalised, world renowned do-list to get things done. To her knowledge she still holds the school javelin record and captained the Bristol University (where she read Modern Languages) netball, basketball and tennis teams so she was destined for a career in international sport. She also managed to get round the London Marathon without stopping in her 30th year and did the Liffey Descent marathon white water canoe race in her 50th year – definitely both one offs!
Andrew McMenamin
Director, Pearce International
Andrew McMenamin loves building teams, helping people achieve their potential and anything to do with the outdoors. He has worked in major sports events since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, trying to find a practical use for his M.Sc. in Recreation Management from Loughborough University.
With a background in adventure sport, youth sport and the sport for all movement he is unfazed by the global sports stars he meets at events. For ten years he was the global Head of Operations of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a development programme for young people that includes sports and physical recreation and is held by many top athletes around the world.
Meet the Team
Pearce International has built a wide network of industry professionals who work with us and subscribe to the same ethos and standards of professionalism. Here are just a few of our fabulous team members:
A former long jumper from Australia, Nicole first worked with Jayne at Sydney 2000 and has been a loyal stalwart on many projects since then. Nicole worked with us at the European Championships Glasgow 2018 and the European Indoor Athletics Championships Glasgow 2019, following on from stints as Media Operations Manager with Jayne and Anna on the IAAF World Athletics Championships London 2017 and IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018. She also helped to plan the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019. She was the Media Operations Manager for the highly successful Cricket World Cup 2019 and worked in Japan as an international expert with the local organising committee of the Rugby World Cup 2019, returning to Japan to work with OBS at the athletics in Tokyo 2020. For the She was Head of Media Operations for the Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022, working closely with Jayne, and now she is leading our project with the Eurovision Song Contest, Liverpool 2023.
London 2012 | Edmonton 2001 | Beijing 2008 | Birmingham 2003 & 2007 | Rugby World Cup 2007 | Sydney 2000
Bob is a multi-award winning sports photographer specialising in shooting sports and action pictures for advertising, corporate and editorial clients. He is also PI’s go-to expert for photo planning in any sport, and worked with Jayne as Photo Chief of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. During a career spanning the last thirty years, Bob has photographed every major sporting event; from the last fifteen Summer and Winter Olympics, to Elephant Polo and Horse Racing on ice. His work has taken him to the farthest corners of the world, and his photographs have been published in numerous publications including Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, Life Magazine, Stern, Paris match, L’Équipe, The Sunday Times and the New York Times to mention just a few. Bob also consults to the IOC on photographic issues and most recently worked with us on the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
A former colleague of Jayne’s at the International Association of Athletics Federations (now World Athletics), Matt has been a member of news teams at numerous world and European championships over the last 25 years, as well as multi-sport events including Olympic and Commonwealth Games. He and Jayne have stickered media tribunes all over the world! He has worked with Pearce International since its earliest days, most recently at the London 2017 World Athletics Championships, the Birmingham 2018 World Indoor Championships and the Glasgow 2019 European Indoor Championships, plus the European Games in Glasgow in 2018. He has been part of the Games news service at four Olympics, including London 2012 and Tokyo 2020, as well as the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. Most recently he worked with us again at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Matt holds the distinction of having worked on the most events with us and at current progress will be getting his second long service award soon!
Belen is a tri-lingual Peruvian communication specialist with a ferocious work ethic and 15 years of professional experience producing events. After graduating from her Masters program at Northwestern University, she worked at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington DC producing cultural events. She came back to Peru to work in public relations and then was appointed as Head of Communications for the APEC summit back in 2016. Her first experience in multi-sports events was in the Lima 2019 Pan American and Parapan American Games. She was selected to be Head of Press Operations in 2017 and met Jayne who became her mentor as part of the GtoG agreement between Peru and the UK. As part of her training, Pearce International assigned her as Deputy Venue Media Manager at the European Championships Glasgow 2018. Belen did a tremendous job in Lima where her enthusiasm and passion for Press Operations and sports shone through and inspired her team of 70 people. Belen is a national level tennis player, a daily runner, a keen sea swimmer, an enthusiastic surfer and has recently learned that bicycles need oil! We were delighted to get her her first Olympic experience as VMM of the new sport of surfing at Tokyo 2020, where she wowed one and all. We can’t wait for the next opportunity to have her on team – working as our project lead at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Vamos!
Ivan is a tennis enthusiast and spends time covering international tournaments in between media operations projects. Past events include Euro 2016, the Rio Paralympic Games and the Sport at the Service of Humanity World Conference (which was attended by the Pope!). He made a name for himself in athletics having worked with us as the Press Operations and Publications Coordinator for the IAAF World Athletics and Para Athletics Championships London 2017, planner and Tribune Manager for the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 and the European Indoor Athletics Championships Glasgow 2019. His stint as planner and Media Hub Manager at Glasgow 2018 European Championships means that he can now really be considered a multi-sport event expert. He has also worked with us for the Six Day Cycle events and for the Netball World Cup Liverpool 2019. He now works full time for FIFA but we grab him whenever we can, most recently at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon 2022.
Famous for her military background and precision, no project is too tough for her. She is based in the US and specialises in Main Press Centre planning and management and media services. At the very end of 2017 she worked with us in scoping the MPC for the Pan-American Games, Lima 2019. In 2022 she worked with us at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrad and then became our our “boots on the ground” at Oregon 2022.
London 2012 | Invictus 2014 | Baku 2015
Hannah made the jump from professional working photographer to photo manager at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014, covering squash and table tennis. The bug bit deep and since then she has managed photographers in various sports and events all over the world: Rugby World Cup in 2015, weightlifting in Asian Indoor Games in 2017, European Indoor Athletics in 2019, and most recently at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Not content with that she was also a key part of the planning team at the Glasgow 2018 European Championships, Press and Photo Manager at Cricket World Cup 2019 and worked as Jayne’s deputy at the Netball World Cup 2019. We were delighted to have her back on team for Birmingham 2022, where she and Andrew split the overall Photo Manager role across all 15 competition venues, 25 sporting disciplines and the opening and closing ceremonies. She says “Working in close proximity to the sport is as close as I’ll get to competing so I’ll take that!” We congratulate her warmly on her recent appointment to the media operations team of Paris 2024 as Deputy Photo Manager across all the venues, and wish her luck with her new challenge of learning French!
Known for her calm, professional demeanor, Barb is equally at home running press operations in an Olympic venue, or managing a complex communications plan. Her cheerful laughter can often be heard throughout a venue as she enjoys each challenge of a new event day, and working with outstanding people. Barb led the charge for us at the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 and came over to us as Venue Media Manager for gymnastics at the European Championships Glasgow 2018. She was one of “The Lima Eight” at the Pan American Games Lima 2019, where she was once again VMM for gymnastics.
London 2012 Baku 2015| Lima 2019
Kamran was Deputy Manager at Baku 2015 and rapidly proved himself during the planning phase. He was a lead point of contact with the Azerbaijani media for accreditation, oversaw volunteer training and was Deputy Venue Media Manager at Crystal Hall responsible for I-Zones. In the past he has worked as a fifa.com editor and on several international sports events including the Tour d’Azerbaijan 2012 and 2013 (cycling) and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2012. He worked as Head of Press Operations for the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games and we were delighted to facilitate his first work with the Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020, where he did a great job at the weightlifting venue. He makes the bold claim that it is impossible to make him lose his patience! Baku 2015
Pirim started as a Specialist at Baku 2015 but became the linchpin of the press operations team, assisting in media accreditation, I-Zone set up and stepped up to be Deputy VMM at Aquatics during the Games. After working on the 42nd Chess Olympiad he worked as the Head of Press Services for the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games. We were delighted to get him onto the Tokyo 2020 media operations team as deputy to Barb MacDonald at the gymnastics venue, and Tokyo 2020 were equally delighted to have him. Always positive and optimistic, he goes the extra mile.
Sariyya was a Deputy Photo Supervisor at Baku 2015, and then was Press Operations Manager planning the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games. A global citizen, she has participated in international trainings, seminars and conferences in more than 10 countries and speaks English, Azerbaijani, Russian, Turkish and Japanese. We were delighted to get her her first Olympic experience as VMM of taekwondo and wrestling where her Japanese astounded people almost as much as her work ethic and ability. Everywhere else she relies on her thousand watt smile and relentless sunny optimism.
| Baku 2015 |
A former PE teacher and athlete, Tracey has worked with PI since its early days and is equally at home with press or photographers. She is our go-to person for Hockey, doing a consistently great job as Photo Manager for the EuroHockey Championships London 2015, the FIH Hockey Champions’ Trophy London 2016, and the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup London 2018. She has also worked at the Rugby World Cup England 2015 and the Cricket World Cup England 2019. She is a stalwart of the domestic rugby scene, working regularly with the Rugby Football Union for their home international test matches. We saw her again at Birmingham 2022 as the hockey photo manager.
London 2012 | Invictus 2014 | Baku 2015 | Manchester 2002 | Birmingham 2003 & 2007 | Manchester 2008
A familiar Kiwi face to sports photographers, Tony welcomes his charges at events including rugby, cricket and athletics. The full-time Chief Operating Officer of Panathlon, a charity that provides sporting opportunities for young people with disabilities and special educational needs, he also is a regular with the Rugby Football Union, looking after photographers at their home international test matches. No matter who you are, he will find a way to help and treats everyone the same. We were delighted to get him on team again at Birmingham 2022, where he was the photo manager of the rugby sevens, and the judo / wrestling.
London 2012 | Invictus 2014 | Baku 2015 | Edmonton 2001 | Birmingham 2007 | Manchester 2008
A former Fleet street staff photographer, Cav has shot photographs in Iraq and Afghanistan and in New York on September the 11th as well as photographs from some of the biggest sporting events in the world. He first became a sports photo manager in London 2012 and has worked on every Invictus Games with us as well as the Islamic Games in Baku 2015, athletics in London 2017, cycling in Glasgow 2018 and was one of the Lima 8 in Peru. A real photographers’ photo manager, Cav is not afraid to stick his neck out for photographers. We’ll be working with him again in this year’s Invictus Games in The Hague and at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Veronika is a multilingual powerhouse fluent in English, German, Italian and French. Her work in Rio has left her well able to communicate in Portuguese too! A former international rugby player she is CEO of the Swiss Rugby Union and is hugely experienced in winter sports also, especially ice hockey. In 2019 Veronika took on for PI the challenging job of providing media operations to the Equal Playing Field “Biggest Football” world record attempt; where 3,000 people played non-stop for five days. When it is Mission Impossible, Veronika is our go-to girl. We congratulate her warmly on her senior position with the media operations team at Paris 2024.
London 2012 | Baku 2015
Calmness, professionalism and superb organising ability in a compact package, Anna loves a new challenge. Pearce International’s go-to person for hockey, with a stint on the Hockey World Cup London 2018, but also a key person for athletics having worked with us as Media Services Manager on the IAAF World Athletics Championships London 2017, the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 and the European Indoor Athletics Championships, Glasgow 2019. Anna was part of “The Lima Eight” who went to the Pan American Games Lima 2019, and delivered the media operations for track cycling and athletics. We look forward to working with her again at the track cycling at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
London 2012 | Baku 2015 | London 2015 | Sochi 2014| Lima 2019
Dušan worked with Pearce International in 2014 as a Venue Press Operations Manager for Baku 2015 and again at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku 2017. Amongst other events he has been Director of Communications at the European Water Polo Championships (Belgrade 2016) and involved with two Olympic Winter Games, two European Basketball Championships and several skiing and skating international events. We were delighted to see him again at Tokyo 2020 and loved working with him at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022. We congratulate him warmly on his new position with the Paris 2024 Media Operations team.
Dusan is fluent in English, Italian, Russian and Serbian and is guaranteed to make his point in any language. And now he is learning French too!
Sochi 2014 | Baku 2015
Lucy first met the PI Directors during the ‘Summer of World Athletics’ at London 2017, when they worked at the organising committee of the World Para Athletics and World Athletics Championships, Lucy in venue operations, while Jayne and Andrew ran the media operation. Since then, Lucy has worked for Pearce International in any role she can get her hands on, while working full time in the Major Events teams at UK Sport, and now the LTA. She was Assistant Photo Manager at the European Indoor Athletics Championships, and Deputy Photo Manager at the Netball World Cup, both in 2019. In 2021 she was Mixed Zone Supervisor for tennis at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and in 2022 she was Photo Manager for Netball, this time at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Client Testimonials
First time I have been working with Jayne was at the Olympics 1996 in Atlanta. Now – 16 years later at the London Games I can reconfirm the working experience with Jayne from last years. She is by far the best person in the world to run press operations at highest level and at the biggest sporting events globally. Her way to serve the client group on one side and her way to motivate her staff to deliver best quality to media is unique. She pays great attention to details, where others don’t even think about it. Her language skills are impressing everyone working with her.
Jayne Pearce is probably the most reliable, and best organized person I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Her knowledge and experience in the field of press operations is impressive and I hope I will have the chance to work with her again in the near future.
I have worked with Jayne on previous occasions over several years and it was a pleasure to be able to work alongside her at London 2012. Her knowledge and experience are second to none; her attention to detail and ability to get the best out of her teams is excellent. She managed a great team of people, but her management skills were largely what made them a great team.
Jayne is one of the most able and professional press chiefs I have had the good fortune to work with. She has an excellent reputation working at major sporting events worldwide and her expertise and experience are second to none. Jayne is good at managing people and dealing with issues and ‘crises’ and her people skills are first rate. I have no hesitation in recommending her.
Jayne is a first class professional who combines excellent strategic planning with an eye for detail that delivers on the ground success for every project she works on. I have worked with Jayne on a number of media projects, where organisations we have worked for have been closely involved. Her collaborative and hard working ethic, combined with her professional knowledge, have made the process and the end result first class. I thoroughly recommend Jayne as a top class operator.
Working with Jayne – undoubtedly one of the best press operations professionals around – in the run up to and during the London 2012 Olympic Games was a true privilege. Her knowledge is exceptional and her attention to detail second to none. She is a team leader and player who inspires everyone around her. She delivers with a smile, addresses all issues and concerns head on and stays calm and level headed under huge pressure. Throughout she never loses sight of the end goal. Anyone lucky enough to work with her will enjoy learning from her.
Jayne is an outstanding organizer and press operations manager. I’ve worked with her under the most challenging of circumstances during several Olympic Games and she has always been successful. Put quite simply, nobody does it better.
Jayne is the world’s leading expert of Press Operations at the Olympic Games and advising candidate and bid cities as to their Press Operations Planning and Activation. There is no better expert in this field – exceptionally qualified, proven expertise, and calm and cool under pressure to get the job done on time and budget.
Jayne and I worked together at UK Athletics in the late 1990s and her experience, talent and support were absolutely invaluable. In addition to the standard NGB activities there were two significant and potentially very damaging crises that Jayne led the management of. The handling of both of those incidents showed the brilliance of Jayne and were I ever in a similar situation Jayne and Pearce International would be the first name on my list to call.
Effective working relationships with sports governing bodies and event managers are at the core of our business. Pearce International’s vast experience and expertise has helped us foster these relationships resulting in world class photographic coverage of the events at which they have provided us with media services.
Pearce International fully designed and implemented the Media Operations program of the 2003 Athletics World Championships held in France.Their professionalism, sense of detail and service to all the populations, and ability to serve demanding stakeholders coming from various backgrounds made them a valuable part of the team. Jayne Pearce is unanimously appreciated by all those who have had the chance to collaborate with her on various projects.
I wouldn’t ever believe in setting forward to running an event without using Pearce International. The expertise, competency and manner in which the media service is delivered by this organisation is one of great professionalism and due diligence.
As a sports journalist I need to know that I can gain access to accurate information quickly and services that are reliable. I have been assisted at international and domestic sports events by Jayne, and now Pearce International, for twenty years and always feel confident that I will receive a thoroughly professional service when I know she is involved. The press is assured of having someone who understands what is needed and does their utmost to deliver it.
BBC Sport have worked with Jayne, and latterly Pearce International, over a number of events from Olympic Games and major Athletic Championships to Marathons and Road Races.Her breadth of experience is extensive and Jayne is used to working with local organising committees, broadcasters and other media. Jayne therefore understands the issues of organising both large and small events and deals with all parties to ensure that they work together efficiency and in harmony. Because of her collaborative approach it has been refreshing for TV, Press and Photographers to work together with terrific results. It is always reassuring to see Jayne involved in our events.
I have had the privilege to work with Jayne Pearce on three Olympic Games, two FIFA World Cups, and numerous bids for both Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups. I actively seek Pearce International’s participation in any major project in which I am involved, because Jayne is so competent, so hard-working, so reliable, and thoroughly pleasant to work with.
ArupSport have consulted Pearce International for advice on the design of media facilities in sports venues for many years. As designers of international sports stadia such as the Beijing Olympic stadium and the Allianz Arena in Munich, ArupSport has required exacting advice for their designs. Pearce International has always provided this with their in-depth knowledge of media operations from overall strategies to the smallest details.
Jayne was responsible for Press advice and helped to deliver the media operations component of the games…mentored the Peruvian Head of Press Operations remotely and in person over several trips, exposing her counterpart to three world class sporting events in the UK over that time. In preparations for the Games, Pearce International designed and delivered a bespoke Press Operations School to train 48 local people to be Venue Media Managers and Venue Photo Supervisors across all sports and venues. This was highly successful in building capacity and capability with the client, with the effectiveness of knowledge transfer receiving significant praise. During games time, Pearce International provided eight experts on the ground to assist in the delivery of the media operations in key sports and large venues. All of these were supported by the locally trained staff.
On behalf of the UK Government I’d like to thank Jayne and Pearce International for the immense support they provided in making the Lima 2019 Games a success.
“What an amazing IAAF World Championships you and the team put on…I can say, without hesitation, these were the best I have attended…it takes real professionalism, experience, creativity and flexibility to deliver something so universally applauded…It is always a great pleasure working with you. Your knowledge and advice is invaluable, your humour in all situations a godsend, your solution driven approach to challenges always welcome and as ever you were totally unflappable. Thank you!…please wallow in the glow of a great job delivered and enjoy the praise you so richly deserve. They were off the charts amazing. Well done and thank you!”
