Tom Lewis and Laura Monks appointed co-MDs of Decca Records Group

24 February 2020 - Press release

Decca President Rebecca Allen has announced the promotion of Tom Lewis and Laura Monks to co-Managing Directors, Decca Records Group, as part of a series of promotions as the historic label enters its tenth decade.

Tom is stepping up after a year in his current role of Vice President of Decca, A&R and Artist Strategy, having joined the company 17 years ago as Label Manager for the jazz division. Moving into A&R two years later, he led the award-winning team that signed The Lumineers, Jacob Collier, Aurora, Melody Gardot and the million-selling Michael Ball & Alfie Boe. He has twice won Music Business Worldwide’s Adult Contemporary A&R of the Year award, in 2017 and 2019.

Laura is promoted to co-MD after eight years at Decca, starting as Senior Digital Campaign Manager and moving through digital, commercial and marketing positions to take the position of General Manager in 2018. Widely recognised as a digital innovator, Laura has worked on hugely successful campaigns for artists including Gregory Porter, Andrea Bocelli, Ludovico Einaudi and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Tom and Laura will continue to report to Rebecca Allen.

Decca continues to put classical music and artists at the heart of its business with the promotion of Dominic Fyfe to the role of Label Director, Decca Classics. Dominic first joined the label as Executive & Recording Producer in 2002, his signings including Janine Jansen, Conductor Seiji Ozawa, and the Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire. In 2018 Dominic was named Adult Contemporary A&R of the Year by MBW for his work with Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Helen Lewis is promoted to Executive Producer for Decca Classics. Joining the company in 2017 as A&R Manager, Helen has worked across key releases including Nicola Benedetti’s GRAMMY-winning album with Wynton Marsalis. Helen has also managed the entire catalogue takeover for Sir Karl Jenkins, working closely with Karl on his 75th birthday year releases.

After nine years at the label, Gavin Bayliss will take the role of Head of Classical Marketing & Catalogue Strategy. Gavin has led countless successful classical campaigns, with artists such as Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Ludovico Einaudi dominating the classical charts. In Gavin’s new role, he will also oversee Decca’s rich 90-year-old back catalogue and will continue to lead the innovation of the classical marketing team across all artists.

The creation of Mercury KX in 2017 reinforced Decca’s desire to seek out innovative artists and music. In its third year, Cerys Weetch and Hildur Maral have been promoted to co-Label Managers for Mercury KX. Cerys joined Decca in 2013 and has moved from being Junior A&R Manager through to A&R Manager, signing the likes of Keaton Henson and LYR (with UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage) and working closely with Icelandic artist Olafur Arnalds. Hildur joined the company last year with over 15 years of experience within the independent sector, having been Label Manager of genre-defying labels Bedroom Community and Figureight Records.

Dominic, Helen, Gavin, Cerys and Hildur will all report into Tom and Laura.

Decca Records President, Rebecca Allen says, “In 2019 Decca celebrated 90 years in the music business. The continued evolution of this incredible label is something I feel hugely excited about and ensuring the future of our artists and music is always top of mind. So today I am thrilled to announce the promotions of Tom, Laura, Gavin, Dominic, Helen, Cerys and Hildur. Each of these individual promotions enable us to grow as a leading global music company. Congratulations to everyone, and here’s to the next decade.”

Having just been shortlisted for three Music Week Awards, including Label of the Year, Decca remains firmly at the forefront of the UK classical and jazz markets with its three labels Decca Records, Decca Classics and the more recently-formed Mercury KX, alongside an expanded roster of affiliate label partners including Deutsche Grammophon, Verve, Blue Note, Universal Nashville, ECM and Concord.