It was announced today that both Iron Maiden and manager Rod Smallwood are no longer with the Sanctuary group/organisation. Rod has set up a new company Phantom Music Management to continue managing the band and has been joined by his key Maiden players Val and Dave. This new management arrangement will have no effect whatsoever on current and future plans for Maiden, the fan clubs or anything else Maiden related. Rod comments-

‘I formed Sanctuary in 1979 and named it after the Maiden song, so its a bit of a wrench leaving after all these years. However in the latter stages of my career I want to be able to fully concentrate on and enjoy managing Maiden without being distracted by other areas of the business. As you all know we have an awful lot going on and we have many exciting plans for the future. The forthcoming European Tour will be incredible and l want to be at as many of the concerts as possible to enjoy the feeling l think you can only really get at a Maiden show! My new company is called Phantom and no prizes for guessing where that came from. Dont worry – its Maiden business as usual!!’