Emma Barlow Email and Phone Number

As the Business Planning and Engagement Manager for Virgin Media O2, I lead a dynamic team of individuals whom oversee the strategic planning and launch of projects to our retail stores, ensuring seamless communication and collaboration between departments. My team and I are responsible for the creation, development and maintenance of engagement activities and business planning tools that encourage a positive work environment and boost employee morale, thus resulting in more engaged front line staff.

As Business Planning Lead at Virgin Media O2 I Built, managed and maintained a strategic business plan with an advance view of cross channel activity impacting the 450 O2-UK stores estate, covering channels such as; Operations, Trading, Customer service and People. Tasks & Responsibilities included; liaising with senior stakeholders and teams across the wider business through constant collaboration, Influencing stakeholder buy-in into the business planner and new communications methodology whilst ensuring cross-channel collaboration to drive the alignment and adherence to the plan and Balance the strategy, governance and implementation of activities and projects to ensure they are landing at the agreed milestones and that stakeholders are held accountable of these milestones.

As the Stores Communications Manager I was responsible for leading a team to ensure delivery of first-class communications to our store estate whilst supporting the wider business to implement changes when required.My role included supporting key stakeholders at a range of levels, to implement and deliver projects by ensuring that communication is engaging and right first time, without overwhelming our teams at the forefront of our business within our retail estate.

My role as a Channel Support Manager within the SOHO SMB sector of O2 was to manage and work alongside all company owned O2 stores, to ensure their sales targets were met and that customer satisfaction was at the forefront of their day to day role. This role allowed me to travel the country to meet new people on a daily basis through the training of O2 sales advisors within the SMB sector and also by attending regional and territory meetings in order to influence the achievement of overall sales targets.Stakeholder engagement played a key part in this role. Liaising with a wide network of people including regular communications with all regional and territory leaders allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the business and the industry that O2 operates in. In addition, taking ownership of a number of different projects within the business channel helped build my own personal profile and contribute to my personal development within O2. Key responsibilities;- Completing and communicating out weekly stakeholder sales figures- Regular presentations at Regional/Territory meetings on behalf of the SMB team - Ownership of an 'SMB Regional Ambassador' project. Working alongside regional leaders, I have one individual from each region across the country leading on SMB sales with the overall aim of increasing business sales across the retail channel. This project has included face to face training, 121's, weekly communications and leading business related incentives- Project lead on the 'dead leads' process, reducing the retail figure from 11% incorrect digital sales to only 2% overall