Christopher Thomas Shake Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

• Founded and lead this successful art consultancy, catering to the special projects and requirements of property developers and architects.• Average sale prices per project ranged from £50 – 100k, with project durations of around a month.• Advised on acquisitions for new members club projects, including The Ministry for Lord James Palumbo.• Advised on multiple projects for Workspace Group, most notably the award-winning Phipp Street design by Olga Gomez Fernandez of Squire and Partners.• Acquired and curated over 25 works and a 52 square meter mural for the building.• Advised on projects for British Land, including commissioning several bespoke works of art and design for Claridge’s in Mayfair,• Advised on and secured contracts for the creation of a 50-meter mosaic artwork and the largest commission painting by artists Josh Rowell for Bain Capital, resulting in the two largest-scaled, highest-priced works ever achieved by the artists.

• Key catalyst for first significant revenue into the company was £350K in sales and overachieving on Q1 as well as Q2 targets within the first six months of being in the role which was achieved by developing and embedding a one-year revenue strategy with the aim of securing £3 million in sales with 5 new advisors, resulting in revenue increase of more than 147% in 2023.• Promoted the success of sales team overachievements to raise new capital into the business via Seeders Platform campaign which brought in £650,000+ to the business while attracting both new investors and customers. Fundraise overachieved at 106%.• Driving force behind £50 million in new art logged onto the platform as well as new art under management secured within the first six months. One major collector (formally Goldman Sachs) logged £22 million and purchased via the platform in his first month.• Demonstrated strong insights into market and customer trends by creating and implementing a bespoke proprietary sales manual to be used across the entire company.• Delivered measurable business benefits by collaborating with developers to create an in-house CRM and salespipeline tool that measures 15 KPI sales dashboard metrics, with infinite easy to use analytics capabilities modelled after Artlogic.• At the forefront of creating an in-house inventory system and a presentation tool showing art and professional cataloguing in collaboration with developers which promoted efficiency by easing transacting payments and sending appropriate offers to collectors that match their collecting preferences (matchmaking tools).• Employed personal network and strong communication skills to establish relationships with external partners, including ArtTactic, Avant Arte, various commercial galleries, private banks and investors.

London, England, United Kingdom

• Established and held comprehensive operational management responsibility for this successful London-based gallery. This included accountability for team leadership, strategic development, financial management, sales management and business development.• Generated over £1m across 92 sales in one year amidst the disruption of the pandemic. Achieved by established and managing the end-to-end delivery of a programme of eight exhibitions and the art fair, ZONAMACO.• Built front and back-end of online platforms utilising Artlogic, Arsty and Artscapy.• Negotiated key contracts with artists and partners, consistently securing optimal pricing and terms.• Led the recruitment of partners, talent, management and interns.• Secured significantly discounted rates on four super-prime Central London properties, based in Bond Street, Piccadilly, Oxford Street and Soho Square.• Accepted to ZONAMACO in year two with a duo show of Piers Alsop and Hugo Lami.• Collaborated closely with a small marketing team to generate significant exposure, including coverage in major publications such as GQ, Juxtapoze, Artforum, L’Official & The Times.• Achieved targeted profit margins and cash flow projections year-on-year.

Los Angeles, California, United States

• Opened a 3200 sqft gallery in West Hollywood, including managing renovations and leading the recruitment and training of a head curator, gallery manager and two sales associates.• Established business partnerships with luxury designers and architects in the neighbouring LA Design District.• Identified, engaged and collaborated with strategically aligned Hollywood influencers to attract celebrities and HNWIs into the space.• Led marketing and communications, including working with LA press.• Targeted clients with crypto-based wealth via a travelling exhibition titled, ‘QVANTUM’. The innovative nature of this exhibition generated significant press attention.• Interviewed by the BBC, London Live and multiple LA and London based crypto outlets.

London, United Kingdom

• Led sales activities within this major London-based gallery, including full accountability for revenue and profitability.• Generated annual monthly revenue of £400k and total revenue of £10m, leading a team of four in securing c. 10 – 30 sales per month.• Project managed the successful opening of two Mayfair-based gallery spaces of 1500 sqft and 4000 sqft.• Key contribution to 15 international art fairs with 14 achieving strong profitability.• Managed and build sales, inventory and online systems for a Mykonos-based satellite gallery.• Established an exceptionally high-performing teams of six staff per gallery. Achieved via astute A Player recruitment and interview stratgies, effective training, targeted coaching & mentoring and robust performance management.• Consistently exceeded all monthly, quarterly and annual sales targets.• Improved productivity, employee retention, revenue and profitability via identifying and implementing opportunities to enhance front and back-end gallery systems.

London, United Kingdom

• As the first hire of this Mayfair-based gallery, providing key strategic and operational expertise, HNWI contacts, partnerships and clients, driving growth to achieve record revenue within months of joining.• Managed marketing and sales strategies for the gallery’s first show, Untitled by Ryan Hewett, which sold out before any significant press exposure. Made secondary sales and on the opening night.• Defined and implemented efficient and effective structure and systems, facilitating growth from start-up to monthly revenue of over £300k.• Led the planning and delivery of rigorous and effective sales training for a team of 12, including creating a training manual.• Initiated an introduction and partnership with Avant Arte and created a collaborative exhibition between the two companies which resulted in significant international press, revenue and brand awareness. • Managed the opening of three gallery spaces over a three-year period and delivered over 30 exhibitions, both within the gallery and offsite. 10 of these exhibitions achieved sell out success.

Hong Kong

Art & Culture

New York, New York, United States

Marketing and Sales

Greater New York City Area

Wealth Management

New York, New York, United States

Private Equity Advisory