Archant has announced the appointment of Craig Nayman as its first-ever chief commercial officer, with a brief covering sales and commercial activities right across the company.

Craig is a former director of sales for ITV Channels and owner of commercial and sales consultancy Red Cannon.

He takes over the role, created when Archant was reorganised into a function-based structure in January, from interim chief commercial officer Johnny Hustler, who will retire after a long and distinguished career at Archant at the end of March.

Craig has over 35 years of business-to-business and business-to-consumer advertising sales, commercial development and general management experience in digital, TV, radio and sports media in both the UK and internationally, working for some of the most recognised names in media and sport.

Starting out his career as a sales representative in regional commercial radio and TV, Craig held a number of senior roles before becoming director of sales with ITV Channels for eight years. More recently he was retained by Arsenal football club focusing on creating new commercial partnerships.

Since 2006, Craig has run his own company, commercial and sales consultancy Red Cannon, specialising in media and sports sectors. His clients included the All England Club (Wimbledon), ITV and Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Archant chief executive Jeff Henry, said: “I am very excited about Craig joining the Archant team and I am sure his experience and insight will contribute hugely to ensure our continued success in inspiring communities. His drive, enthusiasm and talent will be an invaluable asset to us.”

Craig said: “I’m delighted to be joining Archant at such an exciting stage of the company’s development. 

“The opportunity to be part of the One Archant team and help drive the next phase of its transformation is a really compelling one. Archant has a strong portfolio of brands, and I’m really looking forward to working with the commercial teams, its customers and building on the current commercial performance across the multiple platforms the business has to offer.”

Pictured above is new Archant chief commercial officer, Craig Nayman.