Member Article

Young entrepreneur Peter Watson named as IoD regional ambassador

IoD East Midlands has appointed Peter Watson as regional ambassador for marketing and communications.

Peter is managing director of Lincoln-based marketing agency Distract, which he co-founded in 2015 during his second year at university.

Distract has grown to a team of 17, providing more than 75 clients with search, social and digital PR services along with web design and development.

Peter is also the founder of Featured, a seed fund incubator company that helps to launch start-ups while offering advice and support.

The IoD is the UK’s number one organisation for directors, providing support, events, professional development and a lobbying voice for all types of business. The Institute helped to secure vital support for directors during the Covid-19 pandemic, including financial assistance for wage bills and changes to insolvency rules.

Peter joins a new and vibrant IoD East Midlands team which is set to play a leading role in the recovery of business across the region under recently appointed chair Gary Headland. As an ambassador, Peter will support IoD members to connect with one another, develop professionally and influence policy and decision-makers at the highest levels.

Peter said: “I’m excited to join the IoD team and use my insight to help directors drive awareness of their businesses.

“As we emerge from this incredibly difficult period, we need to collaborate and share our challenges, successes and experiences. Together, we can boost our agility and resilience so we are well-placed to take advantage of new opportunities as the economy returns to life.”

Gary Headland, IoD East Midlands chair, added: “I am really pleased that Peter has joined our team as the regional ambassador for marketing and communications. He has an innovative and dynamic approach to marketing which I’ve always found compelling. He will be a great asset for the IoD in the East Midlands and I am very much looking forward to working with him.”

Peter creates a wide range of video, audio and written content every week, as well as sharing marketing tips and insight across two podcasts, ‘Ask Distract’ and ‘Behind the Journey’. More than 100 episodes of his documentary ‘Inside the Journey’ can be viewed on YouTube.

Peter is also a renowned marketing speaker, having delivered seminars and presentations across the UK at conferences and workshops. Distract runs its own series of marketing conferences, offering advice and practical examples of marketing challenges and how to face them.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Abbott .