BA (Hons) Primary Early Years Education

A senior leadership position, whereby, I was responsible for delivering the Advanced (Pre-Booked Sales) targets over 22 venues across the City of London.

Novus Leisure is the UK’s largest private bar and club operator, with 47 venues Nationwide.The Novus focus is on delivering great customer service and pre-booked events, placing them in a unique position within the UK’s bar scene.The role of the Area Sales Manager within Novus, was to develop the Advanced (Pre-Booked) Sales business across all of the venues within the Area, reporting directly to the Sales Director. I was responsible for over-seeing the pre-booked sales across the Lewis and Clarke segment of the estate (8 venues).My key responsibilities were:• Provide training and motivation to the Sales Managers, Senior Sales Executives & Sales Executives (total head count of 30) within the Area, to ensure overall budgeted Advanced Sales are met• Assist in the recruitment of SM's, SSE's & SE's within the Area; including initial induction and set up within venue• To create a succession plan model to ensure a continual, smooth career path for all• To identify strengths & weaknesses within the sales team and determine appropriate training and development needs• Implement training programmes in relation to call handling / mystery caller / systems / running showcases and previews, & other general sales initiatives in the Area• Assist the Operations Manager in development & implementation of Area brand initiatives such as menu development, offer refresh, re-launch activities & ensure effective cascade and accurate measurement of success against such initiatives• Assist the Sales Director in development and implementation of National Sales initiatives such as Christmas, Corporate, etc.

In this role, I was able to combine all of the skills learned as both a Regional Sales Trainer and Regional Sales Manager in my previous roles with Virgin Active.As Regional Leisure Sales Manager (RSM) for the South Region (Velocity Maidstone, Bournemouth, Swansea, Cardiff, Swindon, Farnborough, London Elstree and De Vere Belton Woods and Dunston Hall), my key responsibilities were:•To be responsible for managing the membership sales across the South in order to achieve a minimum on budget performance•To ensure that the region’s annual first payment and joining fee revenue budget in achieved/exceeded and ensure that the BACS collection is also in-line with budget on a month-by-month basis•To motivate and drive the sales teams on a daily basis in order to achieve KPI’s and monthly targets•To liaise regularly with the Regional Director, Hotel General Manager and Leisure Club Manager as well as the Leisure Sales Manager within each site to ensure that; the budgeted annual membership sales and revenue targets for the region are achieved and ensure that all parties are up to date and in agreement with regards to the strategy in place to achieve this•To be responsible for the recruitment, training and development of all membership sales staff across the group•To continually review and evaluate the knowledge and skills of the sales team and identify skill gaps/areas for improvement•To develop and design training sessions/plans to support the business objectives of the sales function•To produce training manuals and coaching guides to support all courses and to ensure that all supporting material is kept up to date on a regular basis. This also includes the launch and maintenance of a new on-line E-Learning platform•To provide feedback on delegate participation and continually evaluate the effectiveness of all training delivered and feedback to the appropriate Line/Regional/National Managers as necessary

key responsibilities:• To be responsible for managing the membership sales across the 14 clubs within the South East Region in order to achieve a minimum on budget performance – a multi-million pound revenue line• To ensure that the region’s annual Joining Fee Revenue budget is achieved/exceeded • To motivate and drive the sales teams (total head count of 60) on a daily basis in order to achieve key KPI’s and monthly targets• To liaise regularly with the Regional General Manager to ensure that the budgeted annual Net Growth target for the region is achieved (to include budgeted terminations and freeze movement, as well as membership sales), the region is in line with it’s budgeted EDITDA and that action is being taken to achieve the highest possible NPS (Net Promoter Score) rating across all clubs • To participate in the accurate forecasting and budgeting for the region based on seasonal and market trends• To carry out detailed club visits on a monthly basis covering both people management/training requirements and operations/systems and standards• To support and manage a team of 14 General Managers to ensure adequate follow-up of all points raised within the club visit report on a daily basis• To ensure that a robust local marketing and activity plan is both in place and executed at each individual club on a monthly basis• To ensure all marketing collaterals are distributed on a monthly basis and that any briefs submitted are representative of the brand, consistent across the region and support the National campaign• To continually analyse the monthly membership sales mix on a club by club basis and to propose adjustments where necessary in order to ensure that each club represents a competitive value for money proposition within it’s market at all times• To ensure the brand’s core values are represented in everything we do

Key responsibilities:• Continually review and evaluate the knowledge/skills of the sales team and identify skill gaps/areas for improvement• Develop and design training sessions/plans to support the business objectives of the sales function, using knowledge of learning styles as appropriate• Produce training manuals and coaching guides to support all courses. • Provide feedback on delegate participation and continually evaluate the effectiveness of all training delivered• Report results/findings to the appropriate line managers, regional and national managers as necessary• Maintain consistently high standards/levels of communication and presentation skills at all times and achieve a minimum pass rate of 85% in quarterly GTC assessmentsKey achievements:• Assisted in the development and launch of a new comprehensive induction process to support new starters• This included; designing, developing and delivering a 5 day training course that could engage delegates of all preferred learning styles and covered all aspects of the sales process; needs analysis, questioning techniques, objection handling, negotiation and closing as well as activity, communication, rapport building and how to sell over the telephone.• Design and implementation of a thorough feed-back and follow-up process, based on Kirkpatrick’s learning evaluation model with the aim of providing a platform for further training/development as well as to assess the ROI of the initial training plan• Implementation of a Regional Training Programme to support continued development for all sales staff, Sales Managers and General Managers within the region, covering; Time Management and Delegation, Leading, Motivating&Communicating, Recruitment&Team Dynamics, People Management&How to Manage Over and Under Achievers, Selling to the Corporate Market, Corporate Account Management and Refresher courses for all levels

I took the decision to relocate from Manchester to London in order to take on the challenge of leading the West London sales team to success after a difficult period for the club.I also viewed this as an opportunity to further develop myself, by gaining experience as a Senior Sales Manager. This role enabled me to work more closely with the Regional Sales Manager (RSM), to support and advise other Sales Manager’s (SM’s) in the Region and act as a role model. It also gave me an increased knowledge of the RSM role itself, and what this entails.Achievements:• Recruited, trained and developed a loyal and committed team, with high levels of integrity, capable of consistently delivering the basics on a daily/weekly/monthly basis• Offered continual coaching and support to ensure that each Membership Consultant (MC) was being developed to their full potential.• Instilled a highly charged and motivated team spirit throughout the sales team• Installed systems and procedures to ensure that all aspects of the company standards were being met and accurate tracking/reporting was taking place• Raised the profile of the club within the immediate area through the implementation of consistently high activity levels and detailed monthly local marketing plan • Improved the National positioning of the club from an average placement of 61st/71 clubs to 27th/71 clubs in my first 6 months at the club vs. the 6 months prior to my arrival. This is a positive shift of 34 places.• Assisted in the smooth running of the Region in the absence of the RSM (such as during holiday periods ) by offering motivation and guidance, support and advice, as well as collating the Region’s figures/reports etc.• Assisted in the training and development of other SM’s within the Region through the contribution of training sessions within our Regional Sales Meetings on a bi-monthly basis

I found my role as an RST, to be both enjoyable and rewarding.The role enabled me to develop a greater understanding of the company’s sales systems, procedures and expectations as well as why they are in place. I gained exposure at 51 clubs across the UK, where I was able to understand and identify both differences and trends in their sales patterns and the implementation of office systems and to design and develop training sessions/plans to support the business needs. I also gained a nationally recognised qualification, the Stownbow Group Training Certificate, during this time.In addition to this, it gave me the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of all areas of the business on a National level, along with an improved ability to see the ‘bigger picture’.

During the 10 months which I spent in this role, I always succeeded in managing the Printworks team towards and through budget. I pushed and developed the team, seeing my Senior Consultant gain a place in Las Vegas for his outstanding sales contribution. My top Membership Consultant also progressed to become Senior Consultant at another club and later returned to the Printworks to take my role upon my own progression to a Regional level.Achievements:• Finished 2007 on 137% of budget over-all• Achieved a net gain of 600 members against budgeted members for club• Awarded North Region Sales Manager of the Quarter for quarter 3 (July – September 2007)• Awarded National Sales Team of the Year 2007• Helped support Deansgate club to achieve budget during a tough December month, when their staff levels were low and were without a Senior Membership Consultant/Sales Manager• Trained and developed my Membership Consultant, Sadie, to a standard whereby she was able to confidently gain the role as Senior consultant at the Deansgate club, thus contributing to her career progression and to succession planning within the Manchester area• Established an excellent working relationship with other businesses within the Printworks centre, and the surrounding area, enabling the club to benefit from a number of contra-deals and increased local marketing activity

Between joining Ted Baker in February 2004, and leaving in May 2007, I progressed quickly from Sales Associate level through to management. I had the opportunity to work across both Men’s and Womenswear and to gain experience in several locations within Manchester. This included the flagship ‘Shambles’ store on New Cathedral Street.As a manager within Ted Baker I was responsible for:• Recruiting, inspiring, leading, coaching and developing a highly motivated team of brand ambassadors to deliver an exceptional level of customer service at all times• Ensuring the regular delivery of adequate training in order to ensure a high level of product knowledge throughout the team• Maintaining high levels of commercial and product awareness • Ensuring visual and brand standards are adhered to throughout the store/concession• Managing all aspects of FTE/staff wage budgets and payroll• Managing the administrational aspects of operations, including shrinkage/stock loss• Completing weekly and monthly reports• Maintaining regular communication and strong working relationships with the Head Office team• Ensuring that the team worked towards meeting, or exceeding, daily, weekly and monthly targets in order to achieve an annual on plan performance

In my time with French Connection, I had the opportunity to take responsibility for the running of the entire department in the absence of management.

During my time with Gap, I worked in all elements of the business; Men's/Women's wear, Gap Kids, Baby Gap, the Stock room etc. I was also responsible for providing and presenting a comprehensive induction and training plan for all the new hire staff that has been implemented with great success. I was especially successful working within the Women's wear department and so in my final 3 months with the company I was focussed primarily in that area.