University of Westminster

Guildford College of Higher Education

East Berkshire College, Maidenhead

Highdown School, Reading

Director at Chill Out Event Management Ltd

Responsible for the management of Chill Out! Event Management, a full-service event management agency providing event-related services to clients in the UK, EMEA and worldwide.

Operating predominantly in the technology space, Chill Out! is a private, debt free, A+ Credit rated business, which has grown almost entirely through client referral and recommendation. 

The business, now 20 years old, delivers events from 5 to 1,400 delegates including multi-location events, virtual online events and events of all variations.

Main responsibilities:

- Full PNL management, budget setting, strategic forecasting and business planning 
- Client management and Business Development
- Resource planning, recruitment, management, personal development and training
- Developing shareholder value in line with the strategic plans agreed by the board 
- Continuing and furthering the company culture and reputation for legendary levels of personalised customer service
- Successfully setting, managing, developing and adhering to company policies and procedures
- Marketing, PR and Sales functions at a company level
- Successfully maintaining and developing supplier relationships at a strategic level

Chill Out Event Management Ltd

Managing Director

Responsible for the day-to-day staff and account management of Chill Out! Event Management, a full service event management company providing event related services to clients in the UK, EMEA and worldwide.

General Manager

Managing the Proposals team across two locations in Bracknell, Berks and Philadelphia, PA, USA

•	Overall responsibility for the design, development and production of accurate and detailed company proposal documentation and associated client facing materials.
•	Commercial, budget and pricing responsibility working alongside senior management, sales team members and others, participating in the pitching and presenting of proposals as and when required.
•	Management of company CRM solutions tools, costing system, budget templates and proposals templates
•	Management of Supply Chain and all Global supplier and business partnership relations  
•	Team management, mentoring, training and development, driving opportunities and increasing team conversion rates for new and existing business opportunities
•	Employ effective negotiation skills, excellent product knowledge and keep abreast of market competition
•	Marketing; Creation and updates of company marketing materials, online sales literature, marketing resources and strategy

mdgroup

Proposals & Solutions Director

UK Head of MICE division for Melia Hotels International. Managing the Global MICE Account Team responsible for sales within the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia together with the MICE sales functions at the Melia White House, ME London and Innside Manchester within the UK.

In addition to the Global Account Manager responsibilities outlined below, this role also encompasses:

- Overall Sales budget responsibility for MICE sales both inbound and outbound within the UK, Ireland and Scandinavian markets
- Marketing and sales activity budget authority for the same regions
- Team management, training and development for all UK based Melia MICE segment resources
- Account Management for a number of key MICE agents and corporate partners within the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia
- Responsibility for MICE sales within the current UK based Melia Hotel properties; Melia White House, ME London and Innside Manchester
- Management of all sales and marketing activity within the MICE sector covering trade shows, business educational trips, client presentations and appointments, hospitality, PR and hotel showcase events 
- Organisation and development of Melia Hotels International UK preferred supplier agreements
- Management of sales action plans, account development strategies and financial targets for the MICE sector within managed territories
- Internal liaison with European based senior management teams and global hotel management staff

Meliá Hotels International

Head of MICE UK, Ireland and Scandinavia

Global management of corporate and event agency MICE industry accounts across the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia for Melia Hotels International. Responsibilities include:

- Key account contact for large corporate companies and event agencies within the MICE industry
- Management of Melia global hotel sales for groups and event business across the UK, Ireland and   
  Scandinavia
- Responsible for the attraction of business from their accounts for any Meliá Hotels International 
  hotel, personally handling groups for their accounts, directly requesting proposals and replies 
  from the hotels or back offices necessary, transmitting the proposals to the client and carrying out 
  follow-up activities to ensure the confirmation of the event
- Supervision of London based global sales team and associated team monitoring and personal
  development
- Organisation and delivery of sales and marketing activity within the MICE sector covering trade  
  shows, business educational trips, client presentations and appointments, hospitality, PR and hotel 
  showcase events 
- Financial management and monitoring of client accounts with regular sales reporting and 
  forecasting outputs
- Regular liaison with internal hotel sales teams across 6 Melia Hotel brands encompassing over 
  350 worldwide hotels deploying a number of different product knowledge and competitor analysis 
  techniques
- Special focus on the sales of MICE event business for the UK based Melia Hotels properties, The 
  Melia White House Hotel, ME London and forthcoming Innside Manchester property
- Acting as an intermediary in the negotiations, follow-up, contract and closure of sales between 
  hotels and assigned client accounts

MICE Global Account Manager

Management of the Planning and Solutions team including resource and traffic management for responses to client briefs and enquiries. Responsible for the quality and accuracy, financial acumen and design of client responses produced by the team.

- Working closely across the business with senior stakeholders, account managers and sales team to interpret, qualify and challenge client briefs
- Identifying and directing the resources required to work on new and existing client briefs.
- Drafting, refining and proofing informative, punchy and creative client proposals in a variety of different formats.
- Leading / assisting with the pitching of proposals to existing and prospective clients.
- Devising complex costing's drawing together information from across the business to be formulated into a coherent response.
- Leading liaison with Grass Roots supplier base across hotels, DMCs, entertainment, catering and representation companies to build strong, long lasting and financially beneficial relationships.
- Maintaining a set of integrated planning tools and documents which adhere to company processes and provides a set of templates that are easy to compile and recognised externally.
-Adept at formulating pitch plans, project plans and managing multiple opportunities simultaneously
- Leading and/or assisting in the compilation of responses to corporate RFI and RFP activity.
- Review and overhaul of supplier database including the renewal of supplier contractual documentation.
- Provision and formulation of MICE industry award submissions material.
- Regular attendance at relevant MICE functions and events acting as a key representative of the business to the industry.
-  Commercial pricing and management of client pitch budgets and solution pricing.
- Line management of members of the Planning and Solutions team including appraisals, setting and tracking objectives and dealing with day to day departmental management

Grass Roots Meetings and Events

Commercial, Planning and Solutions Lead

This internal management role was set-up to ensure that operational staff followed company processes and procedures and received relevant internal training as required. Main duties included:

- Responsibility for all aspects of the events and communication division's project planning tools and quality system covering operational delivery and working practices, financial, staff, health & safety assessment and contingency planning
- Assessed and reviewed company working processes and procedures, advising amendments and changes where appropriate
- Assisted in the creation of client proposal documentation in collaboration with the sales and planning teams

Special Events Manager

Heading up the Grass Roots communications and events team to support Visa Europe sponsorship and marketing activity. Main responsibilities included:

- Day to day management of a fluctuating team of up to 20 staff (dependent on client requirements). regular liaison with the dedicated Account Director for the account, together with internal creative and IT staff supporting activity
- Recruitment, performance appraisals and staff development for the team
- Financial forecasting, income and expenditure statements and budgetary reporting to Visa Europe
- Sponsorship marketing support for the use and activation of promotional activity around the Visa Europe hospitality suites at The O2 in London, O2 World in Berlin and Ericsson Globe in Stockholm.
Involved assisting Visa member banks and internal visa stakeholders with requests, managing the set-up of guest fulfilment websites and html comms for each property, the set-up and ongoing maintenance of a suite usage management portal for use by Visa Europe employees
- Direct budgetry and management control for all aspects of Visa Europe's guest comms and fulfilment programmes for the 2012 London Olympics (over 7,000 guests), 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2010 Winter Olympics together with client management of over 80 Visa member banks across Europe who purchased hospitality packages
- Management of two distinct web portal's to support Visa Europe's 'Team 2012' sponsorship activity and the inventory management, sales and fulfilment of 2012 London Olympic hospitality packages
- Liaison with stakeholders of all levels involved in the planning for London 2012 and Team 2012 including the British Olympic Association, LOCOG, British Paralympic Association, Olympic Delivery Authority, Visa European offices and Visa member banks
- Production of ad-hoc proposals and sales pitch materials in response to new Visa Europe business leads
- Identifying and growing Visa Europe account business through adding value and maximising opportunities

Operations Manager

Senior Project Manager

Maritz Travel Company

Project Manager

Network Rail

Marketing and Events Manager

Leading a team of three operations staff, I set-up, organised and ran events for clients such as BAE Systems, Pharmacia and RBS

Neill Hendry