Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/ --- description: Joe Walsh becomes Reward Gateway | Edenred UK managing director. Thierry Afalo leads Global Engagement as Nick Burns moves into a senior advisory role. title: Reward Gateway names Joe Walsh UK managing director image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-a9875762c2663e1461a7095b0347c1d5.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) # Reward Gateway names Joe Walsh UK managing director Joe Walsh takes charge of Reward Gateway | Edenred's UK business as Thierry Afalo leads Global Engagement and Nick Burns moves into an advisory role. By [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) June 2, 2026 3 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Reward+Gateway+names+Joe+Walsh+UK+managing+director&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Reward+Gateway+names+Joe+Walsh+UK+managing+director+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Joe Walsh wearing glasses and a dark shirt against a purple background](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt-w1280.webp) Joe Walsh, appointed managing director of Reward Gateway | Edenred's UK business. Photo: Reward Gateway | Edenred [Reward Gateway](https://giftcard.news/company/reward-gateway/) | [Edenred](https://giftcard.news/company/edenred/) appointed [Joe Walsh](https://giftcard.news/person/joe-walsh/) managing director of its UK business as part of a wider leadership transition announced on June 2\. [Thierry Afalo](https://giftcard.news/person/thierry-afalo/) was named managing director of Edenred's Global Engagement business, succeeding [Nick Burns](https://giftcard.news/person/nick-burns/), who moved into a senior advisory role at the start of June. [\[S01\]](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article-source-1) The appointments place separate leaders over the UK operation and the global engagement business. Reward Gateway described the UK change as part of long-term succession planning, while linking Afalo's role to its ambition to expand globally. Those are related management changes with different responsibilities, rather than a single replacement across both levels. [\[S01\]](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article-source-1) ## Leadership responsibilities and the scale of the engagement platform The leadership transition sits within a business whose published international reach has changed since Edenred’s acquisition. Its May 16, 2023 acquisition release described 8 million employees using Reward Gateway solutions in the UK, Australia and the US, alongside more than 4,000 customers. The June 2026 appointment release describes 10 million employees and 6,000 companies worldwide. The chart retains the employee figures as dated statements of platform scale; it does not calculate a growth rate from changing geographical descriptions. [\[S03\]](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article-source-3) The data behind the story ### Reward Gateway employee reach reported in 2023 and 2026 Dated company statements about the international engagement platform, not the UK business alone or gift-card users. Published employee reach million employees Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. Sources Edenred acquisition release, May 16, 2023; Reward Gateway leadership release, June 2, 2026 The 2023 release describes employees using Reward Gateway solutions in three markets; the 2026 release says the company empowers employees worldwide. These are publisher reach claims with no common active-user definition, census date, deduplication method or constant geographic cohort disclosed. They are not counts of gift-card users, recipients or redemptions, and do not measure organic growth or the effect of these appointments. Show data tableHide data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __Reward Gateway employee reach reported in 2023 and 2026 (million employees)__ | Category | Published employee reach | | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------ | | May 16, 2023: UK, Australia and US | 8 million employees | | June 2, 2026: worldwide | 10 million employees | Neither release supplies a consistent definition of active users or a method for counting Your free reader account ## Continue reading for free. Create your account or sign in to get unlimited access. Continue with LinkedIn Continue with Google Continue with Facebook No payment required. Newsletter signup is optional. [Already registered? Sign in](https://giftcard.news/login/?returnTo=%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F) ## In this article ### Companies * [Edenred](https://giftcard.news/company/edenred/) * [Reward Gateway](https://giftcard.news/company/reward-gateway/) * [Samsung](https://giftcard.news/company/samsung/) ### People * [Joe Walsh](https://giftcard.news/person/joe-walsh/) * [Nick Burns](https://giftcard.news/person/nick-burns/) * [Thierry Afalo](https://giftcard.news/person/thierry-afalo/) ### Sources and documents * [\[S01\] Reward Gateway | Edenred leadership appointments, June 2, 2026](https://www.rewardgateway.com/press-releases/reward-gateway-edenred-strengthens-leadership-team-with-appointment-of-joe-walsh-as-uk-managing-director?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Reward Gateway | Edenred * [\[S02\] Reward Gateway recognition and eGift-card reward offering](https://www.rewardgateway.com/solution/employee-recognition-program?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Reward Gateway | Edenred * [\[S03\] Edenred acquisition of Reward Gateway, May 16, 2023](https://media.edenred.com/edenred-accelerates-the-extension-of-its-employee-benefits-solutions-in-the-employee-engagement-arena-by-acquiring-leading-platform-reward-gateway/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Edenred Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Reward+Gateway+names+Joe+Walsh+UK+managing+director&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Reward+Gateway+names+Joe+Walsh+UK+managing+director+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) Journalist — Rewards & Loyalty Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [SOMPO Himawari links instant reward draws to giftee’s gift redemption platform](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/sompo-himawari-giftee-instant-reward-draws/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) October 26, 2026 4 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [TOUMEI moves digital-gift shareholder rewards to four annual rounds](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/toumei-digital-gift-shareholder-rewards-four-annual-rounds/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) October 15, 2026 3 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [IDOM schedules final generic digital-gift award for November 2027](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/idom-generic-digital-gift-shareholder-programme-final-award-2027/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) October 14, 2026 2 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#logo"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/","correctionsPolicy":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website","url":"https://giftcard.news/","name":"Gift Card News","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://giftcard.news/search/?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/#person","name":"Maya Bennett","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/","description":"Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Rewards & Loyalty","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp","width":1254,"height":1254,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Maya Bennett editorial profile.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Illustrated portrait for Maya Bennett, a Gift Card News editorial pen name","creditText":"Gift Card News / AI-generated illustration"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt.webp","width":1920,"height":1079,"caption":"Joe Walsh, appointed managing director of Reward Gateway | Edenred's UK business.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Joe Walsh wearing glasses and a dark shirt against a purple background","creditText":"Reward Gateway | Edenred","isBasedOn":"https://www.rewardgateway.com/press-releases/reward-gateway-edenred-strengthens-leadership-team-with-appointment-of-joe-walsh-as-uk-managing-director"},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/","name":"Reward Gateway names Joe Walsh UK managing director: figure data","description":"Tabular data for the figures accompanying \"Reward Gateway names Joe Walsh UK managing director\". Sources, units and limitations are documented with each figure.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article-figure-1-dataset"}],"distribution":{"@type":"DataDownload","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/download.csv?article=%2Frewards-loyalty%2Freward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership%2F","encodingFormat":"text/csv","isAccessibleForFree":false}},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article-figure-1-dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article-figure-1","name":"Reward Gateway employee reach reported in 2023 and 2026","description":"Tabular values displayed in the figure \"Reward Gateway employee reach reported in 2023 and 2026\" and its accompanying data table.\n\nDated company statements about the international engagement platform, not the UK business alone or gift-card users.\n\nThe 2023 release describes employees using Reward Gateway solutions in three markets; the 2026 release says the company empowers employees worldwide. These are publisher reach claims with no common active-user definition, census date, deduplication method or constant geographic cohort disclosed. They are not counts of gift-card users, recipients or redemptions, and do not measure organic growth or the effect of these appointments.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#dataset"},"isAccessibleForFree":true,"variableMeasured":[{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"Published employee reach","unitText":"million employees"}],"isBasedOn":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Edenred acquisition release, May 16, 2023","url":"https://media.edenred.com/edenred-accelerates-the-extension-of-its-employee-benefits-solutions-in-the-employee-engagement-arena-by-acquiring-leading-platform-reward-gateway/"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Reward Gateway leadership release, June 2, 2026","url":"https://www.rewardgateway.com/press-releases/reward-gateway-edenred-strengthens-leadership-team-with-appointment-of-joe-walsh-as-uk-managing-director"}]},{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article","url":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/","headline":"Reward Gateway names Joe Walsh UK managing director","description":"Joe Walsh becomes Reward Gateway | Edenred UK managing director. Thierry Afalo leads Global Engagement as Nick Burns moves into a senior advisory role.","datePublished":"2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T19:44:45.834Z","inLanguage":"en","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".reader-restricted"},{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#dataset"}],"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt.webp","width":1920,"height":1079,"caption":"Joe Walsh, appointed managing director of Reward Gateway | Edenred's UK business.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Joe Walsh wearing glasses and a dark shirt against a purple background","creditText":"Reward Gateway | Edenred","isBasedOn":"https://www.rewardgateway.com/press-releases/reward-gateway-edenred-strengthens-leadership-team-with-appointment-of-joe-walsh-as-uk-managing-director"}],"articleSection":"Rewards & Loyalty","keywords":["Edenred","Joe Walsh","Nick Burns","Reward Gateway","Samsung","Thierry Afalo"],"mentions":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/edenred/#entity","name":"Edenred","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/edenred/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/person/joe-walsh/#entity","name":"Joe Walsh","url":"https://giftcard.news/person/joe-walsh/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/person/nick-burns/#entity","name":"Nick Burns","url":"https://giftcard.news/person/nick-burns/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/reward-gateway/#entity","name":"Reward Gateway","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/reward-gateway/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/samsung/#entity","name":"Samsung","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/samsung/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/person/thierry-afalo/#entity","name":"Thierry Afalo","url":"https://giftcard.news/person/thierry-afalo/"}],"wordCount":652,"citation":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"[S01] Reward Gateway | Edenred leadership appointments, June 2, 2026","url":"https://www.rewardgateway.com/press-releases/reward-gateway-edenred-strengthens-leadership-team-with-appointment-of-joe-walsh-as-uk-managing-director","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Reward Gateway | Edenred"}},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"[S02] Reward Gateway recognition and eGift-card reward offering","url":"https://www.rewardgateway.com/solution/employee-recognition-program","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Reward Gateway | Edenred"}},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"[S03] Edenred acquisition of Reward Gateway, May 16, 2023","url":"https://media.edenred.com/edenred-accelerates-the-extension-of-its-employee-benefits-solutions-in-the-employee-engagement-arena-by-acquiring-leading-platform-reward-gateway/","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Edenred"}}],"author":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/#person"}],"publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#webpage","url":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/","name":"Reward Gateway names Joe Walsh UK managing director","description":"Joe Walsh becomes Reward Gateway | Edenred UK managing director. Thierry Afalo leads Global Engagement as Nick Burns moves into a senior advisory role.","datePublished":"2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T19:44:45.834Z","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"mainEntity":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#article"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#breadcrumbs"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/reward-gateway-names-joe-walsh-uk-managing-director-wearing-glasses-dark-shirt.webp#image"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://giftcard.news/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rewards & Loyalty","item":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Reward Gateway names Joe Walsh UK managing director","item":"https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/reward-gateway-joe-walsh-uk-thierry-afalo-global-leadership/"}]}]} ```