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FKP Scorpio UK to merge with Communion Events

UK promoters FKP Scorpio UK and Communion Presents have announced they are merging with immediate effect to form Communion ONE.

Communion ONE’s team has promoted artists such as Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan, Sam Fender, Lewis Capaldi, Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, TEMS, The War on Drugs and Laufey.

The merged firm will be led by a board including managing directors Daniel Ealam, Mazin Tappuni and Scott O’Neill. The non-executive leadership team is formed by Communion Music’s MD Jamie Emsell, Communion co-founders Kevin Jones and Ben Lovett, FKP Scorpio CEO and founder Folkert Koopmans, and promoter Carlo Scarampi as a partner.

In addition, the Communion ONE team will include Carly Rocket as head of operations, and Julie Morgan, Olly Goddard, Rich Cheetham, Mike Werbowy and Jack Dedman as heads of marketing, ticketing, production, finance and venue programming, respectively.

“We believe that Communion ONE is creating an even more compelling proposition for our existing and future clients”

“Bringing our two brilliant teams together and combining our shared experience, resources and perspectives, is the most natural thing in the world,” says a joint statement by Ealam, Tappuni and O’Neill. “In doing so, we believe that Communion ONE is creating an even more compelling proposition for our existing and future clients. We’ve all had amazing success so far, but in many ways, we’re only just getting started.”

Sam Laurence’s promoter imprint, Dollop, also joins the newly unified company, with Eve Thomas and Hayley Moss completing the promoter team.

Other acts to have worked with the two companies or Dollop include Michael Kiwanuka, Self Esteem, Maggie Rogers, Holly Humberstone, Ben Howard, Olivia Dean, Dermot Kennedy, Jamie xx, The Lumineers, Bastille, Maisie Peters, George Ezra, Gabriels, Hauser, Greentea Peng, Jungle, The Reytons, Kelela and Calum Scott.

Hamburg-headquartered FKP Scorpio, which sold four million tickets across Europe in 2023, hired concert promoters Ealam and O’Neill from DHP Family in 2020 to head up and grow its then nascent UK touring business.

Communion ONE will also produce a new three-night night event series at Bristol’s 15,000-cap Queen Square

Communion ONE will plug into FKP Scorpio’s European touring network, with offices in 11 European countries, and will also produce a new three-night night event series at Bristol’s 15,000-cap Queen Square from 2025.

It will also continue to book TVG Hospitality’s UK portfolio and affiliates Lafayette, Omeara, The Social, along with its new partnerships with Village Underground and EartH. The firm also plans to expand its outdoor portfolio over the coming year.

Exhibitions specialist FKP Scorpio Entertainment, led by James Cassidy and Barry Campbell, and Communion Presents’ sister companies, Communion Records and Communion Publishing, will continue to operate independently of Communion ONE.

PHOTO (L-R): Daniel Ealam, Mazin Tappuni, Scott O’Neill & Carlo Scarampi

 


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FKP Scorpio UK poaches DHP’s Ealam and O’Neill

FKP Scorpio has hired veteran concert promoters Daniel Ealam and Scott O’Neill to head up and grow its nascent UK touring business.

The hiring of Ealam and O’Neill marks a renewed focus for Hamburg-headquartered FKP on its British operation, FKP Scorpio UK Ltd, which originally soft-launched in 2018. The pair will team up with FKP Scorpio CEO Folkert Koopmans to “actively promote and build the UK arm of the business”, according to the company.

Both promoters join FKP Scorpio from DHP Family, the independent Nottingham-based concert, venue and festival outfit. Ealam had been at DHP since 2002, rising to become director of live in 2016, while O’Neill, who joined in 2010, was formerly senior promoter.

Both have promoted thousands of shows across the UK, from 80 to 80,000 capacity, notes FKP, and sold millions of tickets. Highlights for the pair include 18 stadia since 2015 and outdoor events at Cardiff Castle, Leeds Roundhay Park, Ipswich Chantry Park and Bristol Filton Airfield, with acts including Ed Sheeran, Massive Attack, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Adele, Mumford and Sons, Brian Wilson, Anne-Marie and the War on Drugs.

“We are so excited to build FKP Scorpio in the UK,” say the pair in a joint statement. “We have long admired the company’s ethos and ethics and truly believe that it is a force for good within the industry and expanding at a time when we need strong promoters with good values working across Europe.

“Folkert shares our vision for the business, and we have big plans to make this a huge success”

“Folkert shares our vision for the business and we have big plans to make this a huge success and support our artists, agents and managers and give fans the ultimate live experiences.”

Joining Ealam, O’Neill and Koopmans on the FKP Scorpio UK board are Barry Campbell and James Cassidy, the driving forces behind FKP UK’s Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II shows, which have been touring arenas in the UK and continental Europe since.

In addition to the UK and Germany, majority CTS Eventim-owned FKP Scorpio has offices in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Netherlands, Austria, Finland and, most recently, Belgium. The company is one of the biggest concert and festival promoters in continental Europe, with its flagship festivals, Hurricane and Southside, the fifth and sixth highest-grossing in the world, respectively.

“We are very much looking forward to working with Daniel and Scott, who have built up an excellent reputation and have excellent contacts,” says Koopmans. “We are convinced that with their support we will be able to significantly expand FKP Scorpio’s activities in the UK.”

 


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