Stuart Ryan has been brought in to bolster the commercial arm of the club - a move which reflects the growth of West Ham as the capacity of the ground increases.
Explaining his role, he says: "I have joined the club in the capacity of commercial director, partially covering some of the areas that Paul Aldridge had previously done when he was in the position of operations director.
"My primary responsibility will be the retail side of the division, the commercial off the pitch activities, and the marketing, looking after the West Ham United brand image.
"It shows the actual position West Ham is in now; it is no longer just a football club, it is in the situation of being a brand and literally moving away from being a matchday operation to a seven-day-a-week commercial venture.
"For the whole club, the development of the new stand will move us light years ahead from where we are currently operating into a very sophisticated conference banqueting facility with hotel bedrooms, and really develops the facilities we have with the museum and retail involved in that as well."
All that without changing the character of the club, of course.
"Definitely; the cornerstone of the club is the friendly atmosphere and heritage element that West Ham is synonymous with, so the design and development of everything within that is trying to make sure we don't lose the roots and real feeling of the club, the tradition that everyone has come to know, love, and respect.
"I was just chatting with the chairman and we were in agreement that the uniqueness and one thing we must never move away from is the great heritage of the club.
"The key wording is that things will evolve but it will be evolution not revolution.
"It is probably stating the obvious here but we want to make sure we continue to work closely with, and service, and provide the best facilities for our current and existing fan base - but also look to capture and develop an otherwise new fan base.
"With the phenomenal work going on with the east end's regeneration programme there is a huge captive market that we have got to try and tap into.
"We are in a unique situation: if you look at it from most other businesses' point of view they have a target market, and a target market in a lot of instances tends to be personified by a five or ten year age group whereas football embraces all, not just kids wanting to play for West Ham but in terms of the whole community and we realise we have huge responsibilities living up to that."
As for that fan base, with a survey just out suggesting that West Ham are in the top third of wealthy fans when it comes to season ticket holders, is it more of a middle class rather than working class pastime?
"Like every club," Stuart says, "you have to get the balance right.
"The corporate facilities here are going to improve dramatically and we will be able to look after up to 2,500 people and yes, that is a big progression in the scheme of things, but the actual stadium will have moved on from 26,000 capacity to 35,000, so we are trying to make sure there is still access for anybody and everybody who wants to support West Ham United.
"And with the other projects such as kids coming in for a pound, that is an integral part of that: we want to make sure people have different access points to the club from different income opportunities."
Stuart was a marketing director at Fila and has worked with the club for three years, and prior to that was at Nike.
He is, however, a Newcastle fan...
"But I've grown to love and respect West Ham!" he protests.