Jo Walker Email & Phone Number

United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom

Gringley On The Hill, England, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

London, Greater London, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

In December 2013 Balthazar opened its Private Dining Room on the first floor of its Covent Garden, French Style Brasserie - the London sister of the New York Legend. From September 2013, I set up all systems in regards to managing the bookings for the room, created the brochure by collaborating with our Executive Chef, Bar Manager and Owner in regards to all menus, wine lists and structure of services. Once opened, I took on the role of Private Dining Manager and managed all the diary from enquiry stage, provisional bookings and through to confirmed bookings. I finalise all the details for each event, along with payments and hand-overs with the operational teams.

Assisting the Reservations Manager manage a team of 10 reservations agents in the newly opened French style Brasserie. The role involved making reservations for the restaurant through Open Table, managing the availability of tables and balancing the spread throughout the services. Liaising with VIP clients and maintaining strong relations with concierge companies and hotel concierge. When we introduced online bookings for the restaurant, the Reservations Manager and I would monitor the availability through both our direct website and third parties. The role also involved maintaining communication between the Reservations department and the operations and front of house areas of the business. I was then promoted to Private Dining Manager when the private room opened in December 2013.

London, United Kingdom

Managing the availability of the hotel through both corporate and leisure based business. I collected revenue through no-shows and ensuring all backup was present for upcoming bookings, managed guests requests and liaised with the operational teams to ensure these were met . I conducted show rounds for potential clients, preparing meeting and group contracts, quoting rates for group bookings. Inputting rooming lists, dealing with all agents and corporate clients over the phone, face to face, and by e mail.I also took private dining enquiries, managed the diary through daily block chases, liaised with the GM regarding PM accounts and chased payment, managed all third party accounts online including availability.I had a close relationship with the revenue team as I checked rate codes were loaded correctly and offered input from the hotel as to whether stay restrictions should be implemented.I used both Winai and Opera on a daily basis, both PMS and Sales and Catering as well as Microsoft Outlook.I left Malmaison due to redundancy as the reservations and events were moved to a central office in Birmingham.

Rotherham

My main duties were to maximize revenue and guest satisfaction by receiving and responding to customer enquiries regarding bookings for hotel bedrooms, meeting rooms, corporate events and weddings. I took bookings and enquiries over the phone and face to face, I also prepared all the invoicing and ensure payments have been taken properly for the business and ensure that the necessary contracts are signed prior to booking. On the day of the meetings I met with the clients and dealt with any needs they had while they were in the Hotel.I was also responsible for promoting the Hotel as a wedding venue. Since the hotel’s opening in November 2009, the interest in both the corporate use and social events increased drastically. I dealt with every aspect of the wedding booking process, from initial meeting with the bride and groom, the show around of our facilities, contacting the relevant outside companies that cover the chairs and the hire of the DJ. I also drew up the contracts, offered support and guidance throughout the entire process, ensure the funds were paid on time, produced the invoices, hosted a final details meeting, handover to the operations team and sometimes setting the room on the day of the wedding.I also took reservations over the phone and by e mail, ensure they were correctly entered onto our systems, set up the correct routing for rooms and sent out the confirmation to the clients. One day a week I worked with the Financial Controller, balancing end of days, completing reconciliations, performing credit control for the Hotel, including chasing aged debtors on the telephone and ensuring they have copies of the invoices they require. I also performed various administrative tasks for the Financial Controller.Along side my role in Reservations, Meetings and Events, I also took on the responsibility of Duty Manager, which included being responsible for fire safety and any general problems which occur in the day to day running of the hotel.

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Journalism

Activities and Societies: Student Women's Magazine

Education record