Dirujan “Diri” Sabesan is Chief Brand Officer at Wingstop UKI, where he leads brand for one of the country’s fastest-growing restaurant chains. He joined in 2021 to head up partnerships and social, helped scale the business from 9 stores to 60+, and stepped into the C-suite in 2024.
Before Wingstop, Diri spent 16 years running Creative Nerds, the agency he founded at 18 from his bedroom in Wembley. Self-funded and built on word of mouth, the studio worked with SBTV, BBC Three, Sony Music, YouTube, Apple, JD Sports and Public Health England. He helped launch AfroNation, led digital strategy for the MOBO Awards, and judged the 2025 Drum Awards.
Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Wembley after his family fled the civil war, Diri’s route into marketing skipped every step the industry usually expects. No degree, no graduate scheme, no agency ladder. He learned the craft by building it, which is why he reads culture before he reads briefs.
He’s a neurodivergent thinker, vocal about AI as a creative partner rather than a threat, and spends most of his energy opening doors for people who don’t see themselves in the traditional marketing pipeline. He believes the best brands are built with people, not at them, and joins the 2026 Scholarship cohort to learn, challenge, and help shape what marketing leadership looks like next.
He is 33 and based in London.
