Cockpit names new CEO

JONATHAN BURTON has been announced as the new CEO of Cockpit, the London centre for contemporary craft. 

He will take up post in late April 2024, replacing ANNIE WARBURTON, who stepped down in December.

Burton was previously Managing Director of London Craft Week and Director of London Art Fair from 2005–2012. He has also worked for Tate and English National Opera as Head of Marketing.

Burton said: "Throughout my career, I have always been keen to widen audiences, create access and build engagement. Cockpit gives me the opportunity to bring these experiences together and I look forward to collaborating with makers, partners and funders, and together creating wider appreciation of – and greater inclusion in – craft."

Cockpit has studios at two sites in Bloomsbury and Deptford and works with a variety of makers including metalsmiths, jewellers, weavers, woodturners and ceramicists.

DAVINA MALLINCKRODT, Chair of Cockpit's Board, added that Burton "brings a wealth of experience across culture, arts and craft, and the passion for our mission of widening access to craft and raising awareness of its importance, not limited to a vibrant enterprise culture, but its wider social benefits of better mental health and to fostering the creative democracy that craft represents".