Damian Lyons

Experience

• 

  Reading Rockets

  Jan 2005 - Jan 2006

  Professional Basketball Player

  - Trained full time and competed in the English Basketball League Division 1.

• 

  Kent Crusaders Basketball Club

  Aug 2006 - Aug 2009

  Academy Head Coach and Community Coach

  - Managed the operation of the Elite Academy at a leading basketball club.- Planned, coordinated and led coaching of young athletes within the Elite Academy. Delivered individualised coaching to maximise progression and open pathways to professional careers.- Led community outreach programmes to raise participation in basketball.

• 

  Maidstone School Sports Partnership

  Jan 2009 - Jan 2011

  School Sport and Physical Activity Co-ordinator

  Developed a major SSP’s programme for the provision of physical activity to over 15,000 young people across 35 schools:- Planned and delivered the SSP’s Olympic Legacy Project which culminated in 4,000 pupils from 20 schools participating in an intraschool celebration of London 2012. - Improved the implementation and operation of various NGB strategies by growing partnerships with schools, clubs and community groups. - Designed and delivered professional development workshops to over 80% of the SSP’s PE coordinators. Show less

• 

  Queen Mary University of London

  Jan 2011 - Jan 2015

  Identified, developed and managed opportunities for participation in sports for all students and staff at a major London University.- Independently managed budget, full operations and a team of 16. - Spearheaded a successful Sport England funding proposal for £180,000 over three years.- Built mutually productive relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including NGBs and community groups: - Designed and launched the pioneering Community Sport Volunteering programme that delivered over 600 hours of community coaching in its first year. Show less

  • Participation Manager - Sport

    Jan 2013 - Jan 2015

  • Project Manager - Recreational Sport

    Jan 2011 - Jan 2013
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  LMP Group

  Jan 2015 - Jul 2018

  Planning, developing and delivering the strategy of a leading private sports and education company. Collaborating effectively with the three other leadership team Directors and sharing responsibility for managing company financial risks, actions and performance. - Led YOY growth of 280% of the client base of a new model for delivering services to schools.- Built senior level relationships with existing clients to underpin growth strategy goals.- Improved the corporate message and core value flow.- Headed development of quality assurance and compliance practices, including creating a QA and Compliance Manager position, to underpin evolution of the wider quality strategy.- Successfully headed negotiations of complex sections of contracts (including TUPE issues) with potential clients, to enable growth.- Directly managed 11 full time staff and 50 contractors as Head of the Schools department. - Developed and delivered a range of training programmes to fuel performance improvement. Show less Managing the growth and development of the Schools Department at Let Me Play - one of the UK's leading Sports and Education providers. - Developed existing business and created new business to support the strategy of one of the two arms of the company: - Proactively engaged, built relationships with and delivered business from new public and private sector sources, including schools, colleges, local authorities and corporates.- Delivered YOY (2014 - 2015) growth of 33% for a nationwide Summer Schools project.- Led a consultation and research project, which secured Ofsted registration for the company. Oversaw conduct of three subsequent inspections, which all received ‘Good’ ratings. Show less

  • Associate Director

    Jan 2017 - Jul 2018

  • Business Development Manager

    Jan 2015 - Dec 2016
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  Virgin Media Business

  Jul 2018 - Nov 2020

  • Commercial Manager

    Mar 2019 - Nov 2020

  • Senior Commercial Analyst

    Jul 2018 - Feb 2019
• 

  Virgin Media

  Nov 2020 - Aug 2022

  Senior Commercial Manager
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  Virgin Media O2

  Aug 2022 - now

  • Head of Business Planning

    Jun 2023 - now

  • Senior Integration Manager

    Jan 2023 - Jun 2023

  • Head of Commercial - Retention Growth (Interim)

    Aug 2022 - Jan 2023