2020 – Present Day

• Manage end-to-end delivery of virtual and in-person events for multiple clients, including London Business School, ensuring seamless execution of all elements, including logistics, AV coordination, & interactive content.
• Collaborate with multiple stakeholders to design and manage event communications, including invitations, registration tracking, and post-event feedback presentation.
• Manage and coordinate event logistics such as venue selection, accommodation, and F&B, while providing on-site support and managing supplier relationships.
• Lead speaker rehearsals, course content planning and test all interactive content, and provide comprehensive briefings, contributing to the success of each event.
• Launched Chiswick Festival. Created website, formulated & executed marketing plan that delivered a sellout event. 5000 tickets sold in under 3 weeks: 80% gross margin.
• Consultancy for various clients, including The Last Mile for event management logistics, and new staff recruitment processes.
• Launched the London Wine Festival; forged partnerships and created website and with no marketing budget gained over 4,000 people registered for pre-ticket sales.
• Consulting on tech solutions for events; building websites for and introducing AI to support business functions

See rakdog.com

June 2022 – Present Day

We’re reimagining what it means to attend a wine event and making wine fun and accessible to all. Helping the UK and Londoners to experience new discoveries.

Wine is often seen as intimidating and formal, with existing wine events, experiences and retail outlets failing to attract the newer, younger wine drinkers. And wineries and brands are struggling to connect with younger consumers but don’t know how to change.

The London Wine Festival is changing this.

The London Wine Festival is addressing this issue by offering great experiences, products, and services (think Amazon for drinks) that resonate with modern consumers, benefiting vineyards and introducing unique brands into the UK market, along with year-round online wine purchasing and subscription options.

Starting in London before expanding globally.

See LondonWineFestival.org

March 2020 – Oct 2021

A local festival in between the two lockdowns. Comedy, music, food and drink over 21 nights at Chiswick House.

In just 6 weeks we organised 21 nights of events, ranging from comedy to rock bands. Acts included Dara Ó Briain, Russell Kane, Joel Dommett, Simon Brodkin & Tom Allen to a key note speakers like Jeremy Vine through to amazing musicians and incredible classical performers, who’ve performed with the likes of Clean Bandit, Eminem, 50 Cent, Ed Sheeran, Bring Me The Horizon, Maren Morris, Alison Moyet, Dermot Kennedy, Rhys Lewis, Marc Almond and Tom Chaplin to name just a few.

Sold out 21 nights with 5,000 tickets and finished with a healthy profit.

 

Feb 2013 – Nov 2020

Click to view videos

• Founded & developed the second-largest sports event in its category, hosting 8 events/year with 8,000-14,000 attendees at each event depending on the venue’s capacity & licensing.
• Raised over £1.5m through three fundraising rounds with 152 investors.
• Planned, organised, and produced annual events including a hospitality & catering division, managing 28+ stakeholders, 157+ investors, and 200+ event crew.
• Sales and Marketing: created strategic plans and executed them to achieve sell-out success at each event, plus raised sponsorship from multiple companies.
• Full end-to-end event management: From the initial creation of Event Management Plans to risk assessments for the overall event and each obstacle which needed approval by multiple stakeholders, including the local authorities, Police, NHS Trust, Fire, the Highways Agency and numerous local groups.
• Hospitality & Bar Manager: Set up a catering division within Rough Runner that catered to the 10,000+ attendees. Managed the bar – forecasting, budgeting and stock management. Personal license holder.
• Curated and managed specialised events for B2C and corporate clients, including Fortune-500 companies (Lloyds Bank, Vodafone, EE, Just Eat, PowerBar, Asahi, and B&Q).
• Created highly profitable events, with a £50k ad spend per event, and making over £500,000 in sales, per event.
• Ensured cost-effective procurement through productive supplier relationships and effective negotiations, reducing costs by over 30%. Budgets of over £1m+ on events.
• Sold the business after seven years, managing over 60 successful events, many with 10,000+ attendees, raising over £1.5M for UK charities.

Dec 2009 – April 2013

• Specialised in supporting business owners in the hospitality sector, helping launch boutique luxury hotels across London, Milan, Rome, and the Isles of Scilly.
• Delivered measurable business growth through innovative sales and marketing strategies, enhancing customer engagement, loyalty, and revenue.
• Led the development of user-focused websites from concept to launch, prioritizing UX and customer journey.
• Provided strategic consulting to high-profile hotels:
  • La Suite West: Launched the hotel, secured contracts with Fortune 250 companies (Visa, JPMorgan, Shell), achieved an 84% occupancy rate in the first year, and listed it on major OTAs.
  • Blakes Hotel, London: Elevated brand presence and operational efficiency through tailored consulting strategies.
• Founded and led The Entrepreneur Network, organizing monthly seminars with up to 300 attendees, securing sponsors like O2 and Domino’s Pizza, and live-streaming sold-out events for four consecutive years.

Jan 2009 – April 2010

• Co-founded Launch48, a high-energy initiative designed to bring together participants from diverse backgrounds to ideate, plan, develop, and launch start-ups within 48 hours.
• Secured sponsorships from industry leaders like PayPal and O2, reinforcing the credibility and success of the initiative.
• Delivered events across the UK and Europe, fostering collaboration and innovation within the tech ecosystem.
• Played a key role in shaping and growing Launch48 before stepping away to pursue larger entrepreneurial ventures.

At the London Marriott Hotel Regents Park, I assumed the pivotal responsibility of formulating, delivering, and executing a comprehensive Sales and Marketing Plan aimed at enhancing financial performance and achieving budgetary goals. My efforts led to the acquisition of numerous new contracts, including three significant airline crew agreements, successfully enticing businesses from competing hotels with more favorable locations.

Following this success, I transitioned to the London Marriott Hotel County Hall, a flagship property facing substantial operational challenges as the poorest-performing Marriott in the UK, Middle East, EMEA and Ireland. The property had been experiencing consecutive year-on-year revenue declines. I spearheaded a full business repositioning, rewriting and implementing all business, sales, and marketing plans.

Key Achievements:

• Revenue Transformation: Redesigned and executed innovative strategies, driving turnover from £12 million to £19.4 million within two years, despite the economic challenges of a global recession.
• Industry Recognition: Elevated County Hall’s performance to achieve the highest Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) among all Marriott properties in the UK, Middle East, EMEA and Ireland by December 2009, transforming it from the worst- to best-performing hotel in the region.
• High-Profile Contract Acquisition: Secured major contracts with Fortune 500 companies, including Shell, BP, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Vodafone, and Boeing, establishing County Hall as a trusted partner for premium business clients.
• Event Excellence: Planned, executed, and hosted hundreds of prestigious events, ranging from black-tie dinners and fundraisers to celebrity parties and full hotel takeovers, including the Farnborough Air Show for Boeing and their clients.
• Elite Collaboration: Managed the ATP Tennis Championship delegation, overseeing transportation, logistics, press conferences, and ancillary events in collaboration with Chris Kermode, Managing Director of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
• Client Relationship Management: Fostered enduring relationships with Fortune 500 companies, driving significant repeat business and client loyalty.

Jan 1998 – Feb 2002

Joining The Savoy Group, a distinguished collection of London’s premier luxury hotels, including The Savoy, Claridge’s, The Berkeley, The Connaught, and The Lygon Arms, I assumed a pivotal role in the team responsible for rewriting the sales strategy for driving new business.

My mandate was to explore untapped markets and spearhead “new” sales through adept marketing, sales strategies, and negotiations, targeting a fresh audience.

By crafting a comprehensive sales and marketing plan that served as a roadmap for necessary actions, I generated £4 million in the second year through successful forays into new business territories.

Building on this achievement, I took charge of managing top-tier key accounts for the collection, ensuring not only the maintenance but also the growth of business performance to align with agreed-upon budgets. This multifaceted approach allowed me to contribute significantly to the overall success and expansion of The Savoy Group’s esteemed portfolio.

Savoy Hotel

Feb 1994 – Jan 1998

Responsible for the opening of the hotel, for the development of the businesses within the immediate area to include the Airport and all the airlines, encompassing negotiations of crew contracts and all the large corporate businesses around Heathrow as far as Slough’s business parks.

Highly successful opening, becoming the most successful Marriott Hotel at the time within the UKI collection and winning various accolades to include the best sales team in the UK as dictated by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, beating IBM, British Gas and Yellow Pages sales teams (no other hotel even got in!).

Heathrow Marriott Hotel