While at Oxford, Niels studied Modern History at Keble College and represented both his college and the university in football. During holidays he taught English as a foreign language to both overseas students and business people. After finishing his undergraduate, he began his career in the advertising and sponsorship industry. Niels now has 20 years of director-level experience in the development and delivery of major international sporting events, dating back to when he joined the Organizing Committee of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. Here he was responsible for negotiating national and international broadcasting contracts, all commercial activity across ticketing, licensing, and merchandising, and for all aspects of marketing and promotion. Following the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Niels stayed in Manchester as CEO of Premiership Rugby Union franchise, Sale Sharks. In 2007 Niels was recruited to join UK Athletics and successfully drove performance improvements in time to deliver medal success at London 2012. Following London 2012, Niels led a complete overhaul of the business side of UK Athletics, establishing a profitable in-house event and sponsorship business. During his tenure at UK Athletics Niels also served as Chief Executive of the Organizing Committees for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, IAAF World Indoor Championships, and IAAF World Athletics Championships in London. He was also heavily involved in the oversight of the 2012 London Olympics & Paralympics, as an elected Board member and Audit Chairman of The British Olympic Association (2009-2014) In 2018 Niels left UK Athletics to set up his own specialist consultancy (Fabric Group Ltd) to advise brands, cities, and governments on better investments into sport, community, and charity – the Fabric of Society. In this role he has advised numerous sporting events and governing bodies, most recently Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2022 World Athletics Championships, Oregon USA.
