The new company called Major Live Events (MLE) was launched at the end of last year following his departure from The Royal Parks in October 2013. Penny Boyd, previously senior events manager, has taken up his position.
Russell told Event the aim of the business is to bridge the gap between private sector event companies and public sector landowners wishing to produce major events in central London.
"After heading up all the major events at the eight Royal Parks, as well as the work for the London 2012 Olympics, I was frustrated at the level of communication between private companies and the public sector," he explained.
"I have found that a lot of public sector agencies do not understand deadlines, and the private sector are not always aware of political restraints. The Olympics was a classic example of that and I thought there was a gap in the market to provide a solution."
He added in the coming months, MLE will be working with a few well-known clients on a mix of large, one-off events this year. This will include live music events and live broadcasted sports events.
MLE has confirmed it will be working with Innovision Events on the Tour De France by providing stakeholder management for the final stage of the competition in London, as well as working with Sports & Entertainment Limited to establish a venue for the Global Championships Tour - an international equestrian event - in the capital from 2015 onwards.
The company has also secured work with Capital Events Management to provide consultancy on local authority liaison and event delivery for Music on The Meadows, an open air concert at Ripley Castle in Harrogate.
Russell will be looking to recruit the right level of expertise, in a freelance capacity, based on MLE’s work with clients this year.
MLE will also be providing a turnkey outdoor venue management solution to private estates in the UK.
"The goal is to grow the London consultancy and a lot of private estates wish to produce large-scale events on greenfield sites but they don’t have the skills or knowledge," Russell explained. "Next year we would like to develop and grow as a business within this area."
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