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This week on our latest episode of Ten minutes with… we are joined by David Allen, CEO of OPRO.
Founded over 20 years ago, OPRO is the world’s most technically advanced mouthguard company and a leading pioneer in oral protection. Through the development and deployment of cutting-edge technology and the use of innovative design and production methods, OPRO has been at the forefront of protecting the safety of athletes at all levels, across a range of different sports, for more than two decades.
OPRO is the official mouthguard partner of a number of professional sporting organisations, including six of the current Rugby World Cup teams – England, New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, USA, Canada – Great Britain Taekwondo, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Great Britain and England Hockey and USA Rugby, to name just a few. In 2007 and 2019, OPRO was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation in recognition of its ground-breaking work in the field of oral protection.
David Allen kicked off his career in sports with sportswear manufacturer Adidas in 1994. In 1998, he made the move to Nike where he held sales positions in the UK and EMEA business ahead of his promotion to General Manager of Nike Football EMEA in 2006. In 2010, Allen accepted the role of General Manager EMEA and USA for the UMBRO brand.
In 2015, David made his move into the world of mixed martial arts and was named Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, David was responsible for the development and expansion of the business within EMEA through broadcast partnerships, live events, PR/comms, digital and social media engagement plus commercial partnerships.
David joined OPRO as its CEO in 2017 and in that time, the business has gone from strength to strength. OPRO has transformed from being a UK and rugby focused organisation into a global, multi-sport organisation. From a UK centric retail supplier, OPRO is now a multi-channel company with a huge presence across all digital platforms and in multiple marketplaces including Amazon.
With David at the helm, OPRO successfully launched OPROtec which broadened the reach of the brand worldwide. Furthermore, with the recent launch of the new OPRO+ mouthguard – a mouthguard with revolutionary technology built in to monitor head impact data – OPRO are working towards changing the landscape for athletes today and in the future.
Don’t miss the latest episode to find out more about David Allen’s journey.
