Chris Maples is a seasoned professional in media, technology, and education, having spent more than 30 years working for a range of organisations, from start-ups to industry giants. He has held various leadership roles at goliath companies such as Spotify, Microsoft, and Channel 4, and he is currently Managing Director at Maples6 Consultancy and Advisor at Chorus Club. As a speaker, Chris shares his insightful take on media and technology and its impact on our ever-evolving world, covering topics such as youth culture, the changing dynamics of engaging audiences, mental health in the workplace, leadership, and even comedy and its role in culture.
Chris began his career back in 1990 as a sales executive in television sales and marketing services, soon progressing into a Senior Sales Executive role at Channel 4. From there, he worked for Flex Television and Bauer Media, before moving to Maiden Outdoor, where he was head of the team that dealt with selling all premium train station advertising screens, including Transvision, the UK’s first digital OOH (Out of Home) screens. In 2006, he became European Sales Director for Shopzilla, before entering the role of Commercial Director at Microsoft. He held this position for almost four years, before joining Spotify as Vice President (Europe).
As of 2015, Chris was Chief Revenue Officer of Bigballs Films, followed by being CEO of Met Film School. In 2018, he became an independent consultant at Maples6 Consultancy, prior to becoming Agency Lead at Autotrader UK. 2023 saw him step up as Managing Director at Maples6 Consultancy, where he works with gaming, esports, entertainment, and media clients to advise on their revenue and profitability, capital strategy, go-to-market plans, and how to achieve operational excellence. This is alongside being an Advisor at Chorus Club.
Commercially-minded, Chris is a vibrant and enthusiastic leader who, having spent over three decades working in media and technology scaling some of the biggest and most innovative companies in the world, leverages his rich background and expertise to deliver truly informative and engaging speaking sessions. Leaders and their teams alike will quickly find that they have a lot to learn from Chris as he shares anecdotes from across his brilliant career, the lessons he’s learned, and how to remain ahead of the curve in such a rapidly changing business landscape.
Chris Maples' official speaking topics are listed below:
- Media & Advertising
- Leadership
- Mental Health in the Workplace
- Youth Culture
- The Changing Dynamics of Engaging Audiences
- Comedy & its Role in Culture
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Strongly recommend Chris Maples if you need a brilliant host for an event." - Sue, CEO, NABS
"Thanks for a brilliant talk last night, we've had fantastic feedback, really engaging." - Charlotte, Student Council, University St Andrews
"Great - thanks for coming - it was really great!! And the punters loved it." - Colin, DMX Dublin
"Chris would bring energy, experience and direction to any business across the advertising and media spectrum. More recently, he has been a very successful agent for change in the digital space, he knows how to scale a business and is someone I know I can trust implicitly." - Dan, Chief Executive EMEA, Omnicom Media Group
"Chris is a highly skilled media leader, developing strong, open-culture teams that are a pleasure to work alongside. In his time at Spotify he proved consistently how smart thinking, closely aligned resources and bold attitude can outgun much bigger organisations. Spotify rapidly became a regular consideration for partnerships for ambitious clients and brands." - Grant, EMEA Client President, Media Futures Group
"Chris is a very talented, highly motivated individual with bags of experience in dealing at the top level of rapidly developing companies. As such he welcomes the new, untried and untested and has a strong track record of turning great ideas into profitable businesses-and he's also a top bloke." - Andy, Owner, Rapid Consulting (UK) Ltd
"Chris is fast at making decisions and understands both sides of a negotiating position very well. He also has a strong understanding of the market he is operating within." - Steve, Founder & Coach, The Milestone Pursuit
"Chris is an extremely experienced and high profile leader in the media and communications sector. Chris has worked very successfully across both the media agency and media owner side - in particular, his career has encompassed senior positions in both traditional and tech media companies which means he is uniquely positioned to understand the integration challenges most clients are experiencing. He has a very extensive network of senior contacts in the industry and is also popular and able to communicate with a broad range of people. I would wholeheartedly recommend him." - Tom, CEO, Origin
"Chris is a well-connected, energising, hands-on, hugely experienced media practitioner. He always brings enthusiasm and vigour to projects, is used to overseeing and motivating large teams and is very focused on results." - Lindsay, Strategic Advisor, Valence
"A rare polymath in the digital space, Chris managed the complex and multi-layered media superpower that is Microsoft Advertising with real skill and drive. His breadth of knowledge in the sector is second to none and he balances his responsibilities in the role with a character and sense of humour that makes him one of the most respected and poular practisioners in the industry. As a leader and visionary in the digital space I can't recommend Chris highly enough." - James, Co-Founder, Brand Directors & The Neuro-Narrative Lab
"I worked with Chris at our time at Emap (latterly Bauer) collaborating closely on a number of key projects. Chris is a powerful leader who always has a telling contribution to make. He is demanding of his team - and drives a high performance from them - but is also incredibly engaging. He prioritises the recruitment of talented team (throughout his career he has been confident hiring very senior talent for the role working with him).
"Chris regularly anchored company conference events - switching with ease between the commanding strategic presentations to turns bringing levity and humour to post-work entertainment. This illustrates Chris perfectly - he is a highly convincing frontman who is at his best working an audience." - Bruce, Honorary Visiting Professor at Bayes Business School
"The places we work and the people we work with defines all of us. Chris' breadth of experience is vast and has been nurtured at some of the leading media owners of their day alongside some real industry leaders. His approaches to the media team at BT always hit the sweet spot when others across Microsoft's vast number of touchpoints with BT rarely did." - Steve, COO, Astus Group
"Chris was a collaborative and creative partner to work with. He would always go the extra mile to find a better solution that delivered value to our clients." - David, Global Chief Client & Operations Officer, Local Planet
"Chris is a top performer in the UK. He has fantastic experience across all media (TV, Print, OOH and Digital) and has great relationships within the media industry. I would have no hesitation in recommending Chris as a first class media operator." - Marc, Commercial Advisor, Diversity Media Sales, Legacy Media & the7stars
- 2025 – Advisor at Chorus Club
- 2023 – Managing Director at Maples6 Consultancy
- 2020 – Agency Lead at Auto Trader UK
- 2018 – Independent Consultant at Maples6 Consultancy
- 2016 – CEO at Met Film School
- 2015 – CRO at Bigballs Films
- 2011 – VP (Europe) at Spotify
- 2007 – Commercial Director at Microsoft
- 2006 – European Sales Director at Shopzilla Inc
- 2004 – Head of Unique (Rail Division) at Maiden Outdoor
- 1999 – Head of Agency Sales & Trading at Bauer Media
- 1996 – Account Director at Flextech Television
- 1992 – Senior Sales Executive at Channel 4
- 1990 – Sales executive in television sales and marketing services
How to hire Chris Maples
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Chris Maples for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
