London live brand engagement agency Kru Live is claiming to be the first UK agency to accept digital currencies for payment for both UK-based and international work. KruLive will now take payment in any of the top five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dash and Litecoin.

Tom Eatenton, CEO and Founder of Kru Live, says that he is confident in the viability of cryptocurrencies as a payment mechanism and adds that the company has been approached by clients wanting to use them. He observes: “It won’t be for every client, although if one of our clients wishes to use this method of payment then we are more than happy to accommodate them. If household names like Microsoft, Expedia and Subway can do it, why can’t we? We are willing to demonstrate this confidence and the desire of many of our global clients to find more cost-effective means of doing business across borders by offering this as a method of payment.”

Eatenton adds that Kru Live has “put in place a detailed structure and processes to make this possible as well as to manage the risk in current currency fluctuations.”

Sarah-Jane Benham, managing director of Kru Live, comments: “We are now seeing the rise in interest and investment in cryptocurrencies, so we again want to stay ahead of the game and ensure we are responding to client demand.”

Kru Live works with a global group of agencies known as The Staffing and Entertainment Collective, and claims to be seeing growing demand for international activity, with more than 20% of its business coming from outside the UK.

Founded in 2005, Kru Live is a multi-award winning global live brand engagement agency specialising in event staffing and entertainment. It works with both brands and agencies; brand clients include MasterCard, HSBC, NFL, LandRover, Birds Eye, Oculus Rift, PlayStation, Google (pictured) and Nivea.

Kru Live founded global network The Staffing & Entertainment Collective in 2014; it now covers 34 countries. Recent international activations include pan-European tours with Reebok, Footlocker, Taylor Swift, Salesforce and PlayStation.

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Kru Live has appointed Ella Newton as Client Services Director to drive forward the specialist staffing agency’s continued growth and success.

Newton joins from Brands At Work, where she was the Account Manager responsible for cultivating new and existing client relationships and devising creative event solutions for a number of blue chip companies.

Prior to that, Ella achieved a 2:1 degree in Law and started her career freelancing in PR for fashion and fitness companies. She then joined Kru Live as a brand ambassador and staff booker, supporting events for agencies including Jack Morton and McCann World Group.  She has hands-on experience as an Event Manager for experiential activations for the likes of MINI, Lastminute.com and Nivea, to name a few.

Ella comments: “I’m so delighted to be returning to KruLive in a new role which will enable me to leverage the valuable insights and knowledge I’ve gained across the events industry thus far. Having worked with Kru before, I was able to experience first-hand the exceptional service they provide to clients and staff alike. Kru’s desire to constantly innovate and adapt their service offering for both their talent and event staffing division is a very exciting prospect and I look forward to maximising the agency’s potential and expansion into new markets.”

Sarah-Jane Benham, Managing Director of Kru Live and Kru Talent, says: “We are thrilled to have Ella on board in this capacity. Her appointment, which sees her heading up our new business team, is further proof of our continuing success as an agency.”

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Kru Talent has appointed Lauralee Watson, formerly of BD Network, as its new Talent Director, as part of its expansion strategy.

Watson has more than 10 years’ event and experiential staffing experience; before BD Network, she was at Leo Burnett and then Sense Marketing. During her five years at Sense, she was pivotal to the successful delivery of key high profile campaigns such as Vodafone, The Health Lottery, Cadbury’s, Timberland and Palmolive.

Sarah Jane Benham, Managing Director at Kru Live, says: “I am delighted to welcome Lauralee to our senior leadership team. Lauralee has a proven track record of delivering results, 10 years of industry insight and knowledge and a passion for providing ‘wish I was there’ entertainment”.

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