ISP: EUROPE

James Jones

Regional Head of Marketing – Europe

James grew up in London and went to the University of Leeds, where he studied French and Latin.  He started his career in public relations, working with a number of leading London agencies on business-to-business, consumer and charity campaigns. During this early stage of his career, James learned the fundamentals of what makes a story and how to create engaging content which is relevant to the lives of customers.

As a Francophile, James has a strong interest in food and wine and so jumped at the chance to work in the wine trade, first for E&J Gallo, the world’s largest winery, and later for a specialist wine PR and marketing agency. A number of projects for restaurant brands ignited a passion for hospitality so he went on to take an opportunity with one of the UK’s most influential restaurant groups, D&D London. There, he played a pivotal role in the turnaround of several large but under-performing sites, before progressing to lead the central marketing function and developing impactful group-wide campaigns. His most recent role before joining ISP was with one of the UK’s oldest wine merchants, where he built a commercially-focused marketing operation to drive sales for the wine bar, e-commerce, wholesale and private cellar divisions.

James has a lifelong interest in education, with many members of his family involved in teaching. He had long seen the similarities between marketing hospitality venues and schools, so was excited to bring his experience to ISP as it looks to grow further in Europe.

James lives in London with his wife and two children and enjoys discovering everything that the city has to offer. He also likes to escape to the hills whenever possible, where he enjoys trail running and ski touring.