ENO appoints Helen Shute as Chief Executive Officer

In addition to leading ENO, Helen will also become Chief Executive of London Coliseum Limited, taking up both roles in November 2026. Helen will succeed Jenny Mollica, who steps down in May after six years with the company.

Helen has broad experience across the dance, arts and entertainment sectors. She is currently Chief Executive and Executive Producer of Rambert, a role she has held since 2017.

During her tenure, Helen has led an ambitious programme of new commissions and major revivals, working with partners including The Royal Ballet and Manchester International Festival. She expanded Rambert’s national and international reach, significantly growing audiences and strengthening its position as one of the world’s leading contemporary dance companies. In partnership with Rambert School, she established Rambert2, a highly acclaimed new ensemble for exceptional early career dancers. She also led Rambert to become the first dance company to adapt major television intellectual property for the stage, co-producing Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, with Birmingham Hippodrome and Lowry, which is currently touring in China. Helen has also driven a strong focus on access and participation, launching Early Moves, a pioneering initiative supporting nursery children’s motor skills and school readiness, delivered with NHS Greater Manchester and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

Prior to her role at Rambert, Helen was Chief Operating Officer of House Productions, the London based independent film and TV production company, working with Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell to establish a new home for talent across television, drama and feature films. House was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie of its first televised drama Brexit – The Uncivil War and won Best Adapted Screenplay for Conclave at the Academy Awards 2025.

In 2008, Helen co-founded Hofesh Shechter Company with the acclaimed choreographer, after producing his seminal works Uprising (2006) and In your rooms (2007) whilst working as Programming Associate at The Place from 2005 to 2007 on a fellowship awarded by Arts Council England. Under her leadership, Hofesh Shechter Company grew to become a major national and international presence establishing significant partnerships with high profile venues in the UK and in many international dance capitals.

Helen will take up the role at a pivotal moment for ENO, as it expands its work in Greater Manchester while continuing to present a season in London. Across the country, ENO delivers an ambitious programme of learning and participation, opening up opera to people of all ages and backgrounds, alongside its award-winning creative health initiative, ENO Breathe.