Simon Peter St John Bowthorpe (born 12 September 1964) is an English chief executive and

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

rider.

Early life and education

Simon Peter St. John Bowthorpe was born in 1964 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the grandson of industrialist Jack Bowthorpe, CBE, founder of what is now

Spirent Spirent Communications plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications testing company headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of t ...

PLC. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Schiller International University Schiller International University (SIU) is a private for-profit university with its main campus and administrative headquarters in Tampa, Florida. It is named after the German playwright and philosopher Friedrich Schiller. It has campuses on tw ...

Career

Bowthorpe began his career working at

Grey Advertising Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East & Africa, A ...

and

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of ...

. In 1993, he founded talent agency Creative Management Group and at the end of 1994 founded Mediaplus, the first European media agency that allowed clients to buy advertising space with their own goods and services. In 2001, Bowthorpe left the company to become a championship Spanish dressage rider, winning silver medals at the Madrid finals in 2002 and 2003. From 2003 to 2008, he was the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Media Force One and subsequently worked as a consultant to some of the world's largest communications groups. Bowthorpe joined

Universal McCann Universal McCann (UM) is a global media and advertising agency. UM is a member of Interpublic Group, operating under the IPG Mediabrands branch. Some of its regional offices are known as Universal Media rather than Universal McCann but are still ...

, a creative media agency which belongs to

Interpublic Group The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group, and Marketing Specialists, as well as a n ...

, as General Manager of the

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

operation in May 2013. He was promoted to

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of both UM and FP7 Qatar in December of the same year. Due to the agency's rapid growth in the Qatar market, Bowthorpe concentrated on managing UM Qatar at the end of 2015 and became the Managing Director of UM Sports in 2016. He was promoted to Managing Director of UM Qatar & Kuwait & FP7/KWI in April 2017. He is the founder of the Old Etonian Scuba Diving Society and a member of the Old Etonian Medical Society, the

Bow Group The Bow Group is a UK-based think tank promoting conservative opinion. Founded in 1951, it is the oldest group of its kind, counting many senior Conservative Party MPs and peers among its members. It represents a forum for political debate with i ...

, the

United States Parachute Association The United States Parachute Association (USPA) is a private sports governing body for the sport of skydiving in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The USPA's roots go back to the National Parachute Riggers ...

, the

Professional Association of Diving Instructors The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is a recreational diving membership and diver training organization founded in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson. Cronin was originally a NAUI instructor who decided to form his ...

, the Anglo-Arab Horse Breeders' Society and the Royal Spanish Riding Federation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowthorpe, Simon Peter St John 1964 births Living people British dressage riders English chief executives People educated at Eton College English male equestrians