Moving to London in November 1998, Ascoli founded Source UK, signing acts Turin Brakes, Kings of Convenience, Gemma Hayes... [1] In 2001, he became Director of A&R for Virgin UK, where he was responsible for such artists as Massive Attack, the Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, and N.E.R.D.
The following year he was named MD of Virgin UK and brought new artists to the label including The Kooks, Kelis, Jamie T, and the Thrills.
During this time Ascoli also entered into a joint venture with Relentless to work with Joss Stone and KT Tunstall.
The label has released records from artists including Jagwar Ma, Courtney Barnett, Real Lies, Childhood, and Max Jury.
[6] Ascoli also managed French electronic music duo, Paradis.In August 2016 a press release announced that he had relinquished his role as chief creative officer and would base himself in Paris to pursue independent projects relinquish his role as chief creative officer https://www.recordoftheday.com/news-and-press/philippe-ascoli-leaves-cco-role-at-marathon-artists Ascoli left Marathon Artists in September 2016 and moved back to Paris to run GUM Label (Green United Music) as managing director.