Northampton name new CEO less than six weeks after vacancy arose

Northampton Saints have named Julia Chapman as their new CEO just five and a half weeks after Mark Darbon revealed on July 1 that he would be leaving cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens to join golf’s R&A.

Despite widespread interest in the vacancy, the reigning Gallagher Premiership champions ultimately didn’t have to look very far to recruit Darbon’s successor as Chapman has been working as Saints’ chief operating officer having initially joined the club in 2016 as its finance director.

A statement read: “Northampton Saints can today [Friday] announce that Julia Chapman (currently chief operating officer) has been appointed the club’s new chief executive, and will begin her new role in November. Chapman initially joined Saints back in September 2016 as finance director and has since helped to steer the club through the most challenging financial period in its 144-year history.

“The pandemic, and subsequently the loss of three other Premiership clubs, presented significant challenges for Saints, but thanks to robust financial management under Chapman’s leadership the club emerged with a strong balance sheet and has recorded record revenues for three consecutive years.

“From September 2018 onwards, Chapman broadened her remit at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, becoming finance and operations director and overseeing the club’s stadium management, IT systems, grounds team, and catering partnership with Levy UK, as well as the finance department before being appointed chief operating officer in September 2022.

“Throughout her tenure, Chapman has sat on the club’s board and worked closely with outgoing chief executive Mark Darbon to build and execute the club’s long-term strategic plan. In addition to overseeing the club’s activities in relation to the salary cap framework, she has played a leading role on a number of major initiatives – for example the development of the club’s high performance centre, and the progression of the hotel project which is currently underway – as well as supporting a number of key commercial programmes, most notably across the club’s retail and ticketing businesses.

“Chapman has also transformed Saints’ approach to sustainability, with the club signing up to the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Framework in April 2022 and setting a net-zero emissions target by 2040. She graduated from Cambridge University, qualified as a chartered accountant, and before arriving in Northampton worked in various senior finance roles within several of the UK’s biggest companies such as Travis Perkins, Habitat, Home Retail Group, Legal & General, IBM, and PwC.”

Northampton chairman John White said: “We are delighted to appoint Julia as our new chief executive. We had a lot of interest in the role from some very high-calibre candidates, both within and outside of rugby, which was a great indictment for the standing of the club within the world of elite sport. But for the board, Julia was always the stand-out choice.

“She has more than two decades worth of experience working across multiple businesses and given her background as chief operating officer, she also has an unparalleled knowledge of all the challenges we have faced in recent years. She was absolutely instrumental in making key decisions throughout the pandemic and beyond, which have left the club in a strong position looking forwards.

“Having been at Saints since 2016, Julia also has a clear understanding of the club, our culture, our structure, our history, and our role within the community here in Northampton. We were very keen to ensure a smooth transition following Mark Darbon’s successful tenure, and we have no doubt that Julia’s understanding of our priorities moving forwards will ensure that we continue to improve how we operate, and drive success both on and off the pitch.

“I am sure Julia will make her own mark on the club as well. Northampton Saints is in good health, but continuous improvement is what we are all about, so we will welcome her insight and ideas moving forwards.

“Julia has continuously broadened her role at Saints during her time with us. We believe in our people, and we have a strong track record at the club – on and off the pitch – of succession planning and successfully promoting within the organisation. Mark Darbon still has three months with us before starting at The R&A, and this will enable Julia to seamlessly switch into the chief executive role before formally starting in November.”

Chapman added: “I couldn’t be more excited for this new opportunity to lead Northampton Saints as chief executive. I have expanded my role at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens over the last few years, so this feels like a natural progression for me. It’s a huge honour to be part of this historic club’s story.

“I love the club. Having been here since 2016, I know we have brilliant performance and commercial teams who have all been on a journey together to get us to the strong position we are in, so I’m relishing the opportunity to continue to work with them to improve and evolve Northampton Saints. We have seen a period of success, on and off the pitch, over the last few years but there are still so many opportunities for us to develop and a lot to play for as a business.

“We must continue to deliver transparent communication and unmissable experiences for our supporters, who are the heart of the club, as well as growing our audience and futureproofing cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens – and I would love to deliver the next stage of our masterplan for the venue during my tenure.

“Working largely in finance and operations so far at Saints, naturally I have been a bit more ‘back-of-house’, so one of the elements I am really looking forward to is engaging more with our supporters and commercial partners, encouraging plenty of open dialogue about their experiences with us and how we interact with them.

“There are still challenges ahead too, both for Saints specifically and within the wider landscape of rugby more generally, but we have a really strong strategy in place and having an in-depth understanding of the club’s finances gives me a head start within my new role as we look to build a sustainable future by returning to profitability as soon as possible.”