Tottenham have officially submitted the paperwork to Companies House for Vinai Venkatesham's appointment as CEO.
The former Arsenal man officially began work at the club on Monday and the 44-year-old is expected to lead some major changes within Spurs this summer. A document submitted by the club to Companies House on Tuesday shows that Vinaichandra Guduguntla Venkatesham was officially appointed and registered as a company director on Monday.
The new CEO comes with a strong reputation from his years across north London and after Venkatesham left Arsenal a year ago, a number of clubs, both in the Premier League and abroad, had been eyeing him up but Tottenham moved quickly to create the new role in N17 for a man well known to chairman Daniel Levy.
He was a board member and later executive committee member of the European Club Association, where he came into plenty of contact with the Tottenham chairman, as he did at Premier League meetings.
Those who came across Venkatesham during his time at Arsenal described him to football.london with words such as "slick", "charming", "likeable", "smooth operator" and "genuinely caring about the fans". He is known as a top communicator, as comfortable speaking to the fans on the street and the media at gatherings as he is operating and negotiating within the corridors of power inside a club and within the sport.
Venkatesham is first and foremost a businessman - a trained accountant - rather than a traditional football expert. During his time as the Gunners' CEO, annual revenue jumped from £340million to a record £615million before he left. He will bring strong focus on commercial and business activities, but will surround himself with those with football knowledge, taking in their information and combining it with his own experiences built up over those years at Arsenal.
Venkatesham's arrival comes in the week when it was announced that Levy's long-time advisor Donna-Maria Cullen was stepping down from the board. Having been at the club for around three decades, Cullen was removed from the board on Companies House on Monday and will spend the next couple of months handing over her duties within the club to others.
Levy said of Cullen's departure: "Donna has made an immense contribution to the club, over an extensive period. Her diverse responsibilities grew significantly and replacing her roles with a single individual will be impossible. While many may associate her primarily with marketing and communications, Donna's impact extends far beyond those areas. Notably, her leadership and political acumen at planning committees, was instrumental in the club being able to build one of the finest stadiums and training centres in the world.
"She deserves recognition for the contribution she played in the formation of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, which has positively impacted countless individuals in our communities, and in establishing the London Academy of Excellence, providing children with exceptional educational opportunities.
"Donna has pushed the conscience of the club to be at the forefront of environmental and diversity initiatives. She also played a crucial role in supporting the amateur part-time Spurs Ladies, enabling the development of our professional women’s team. Her daily input will be greatly missed, however she fully deserves to take time for herself, and I know that we shall be able to call upon her advice when needed. We wish her well for the future."