Ramon Van De Velde Email & Phone Number

Newquay, England, United Kingdom

1 in 5 children in the UK struggle with their social, emotional or mental health. We’re on a mission to change that! The Wave Project is an award winning charity, delivering surf therapy in more than 20 locations throughout the UK. Our HQ is in Newquay, Cornwall. Our approach is to intervene early, treat young people with respect and focus on a learning activity that they can relate to – surfing.Our Surf Therapy programme is a three step intervention:Step 1 – Six week surf therapy courseStep 2 – Surf ClubStep 3 – Progressing to volunteer

Pentewan, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

Late 2020 I moved across to Heligan, taking over a year ahead of schedule as the only third-ever Managing Director. I led and managed this business through the next two lockdowns, and ensured its successful recovery. Some of the key achievements:- Establishment of standards in H&S, HR and compliance, including digitising all connected processes and procedures.- Building a culture of a highly engaged, motivated team who understand our Purpose and Values, which I led on defining. The creation of a strategic plan to guide the day to day operations – the Heligan Ambitions – followed.- Record-breaking 393k visitors in 2021 (200k in 2020) with record profits and record spend-per-heads in all commercial departments, which continued to improve since then.- Profit for the attraction in 2023 is over 150% higher than the last comparable year before Covid.- I led on significant investment into the site, focusing initially on the neglected basics such as paths and glasshouses, before concentrating on creating additional commercial outlets across the site, which enabled us to diversify. We for example beautifully restored the old Steward’s House, turning it into an appealing restaurant and wedding venue.- I created the L&D programme “Grow with Heligan”, which led to Heligan being recognised as SME Employer of the Year 2022 at the Cornwall Apprenticeship Awards, with one of the apprentices also winning the Hospitality Apprentice of the Year award.- We professionalised our marketing, adding a data-driven approach to the great intuition already present.- In November 2023 we were awarded four prizes at the Cornwall Tourism Awards: Gold for Tourism Event / Festival of the Year – Heligan Night Garden; Silver for Wedding Venue of the Year, Wildlife Friendly Tourism Business of the Year and Large Visitor Attraction of the Year.- When I left in December 2023 Heligan was well on the way on the journey for the B Corp Certification, which was a process instigated and led by me.

Cornwall

Smit Associates is the management company for Sir Tim Smit's personal businesses which include the Shipwreck Treasure Museum, the Lostwithiel Orchard project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan.Sir Tim Smit “found” the Lost Gardens of Heligan in 1990 and beautifully restored them during the 1990’s. I had worked with Tim at the Eden Project and he approached me to lead Heligan for him, upon the retirement of the previous incumbent. I initially started as Operations Director of Smit Associates and MD of one of his other businesses, the Shipwreck Treasure Museum. I led and managed this business through Covid, and made significant changes to its operation and strategy quickly turning it from loss-making into a profitable and exciting business. This included establishing a partnership with the National Geographical Society to host a successful exhibition about Ernest Shackleton, and the creation and delivery of the Tunnel of Light events in the historic tunnels underneath the museum. We won the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Cornwall Tourism Awards, and Bronze at the South West Tourism Awards, after my first year of managing it.

Marazion, Cornwall, Uk

Promoted to CEO after 16 months with St Aubyn Estates, aged 39. Working closely with the business owners, Lord and Lady St Levan, and the Finance Director, I run St Aubyn Estates. The company consists of the following business units: - St Michael’s Mount - iconic Cornish visitor attraction;- Godolphin Arms – 300-cover beachside restaurant with 10 rooms;- St Aubyn Estates Holidays – consisting of holiday cottages, car park and café in one of the most beautiful parts of the country;- Cornish Heritage Builders – a building company which does all the estates’ and Mount building work, plus external contracts; principally with the National Trust;- St Aubyn Estates (Land & Property) – a 5,000-acre estate, which includes 17 tenanted farms, 46 let residential properties, 50 commercial properties, woodlands, and development opportunities (both land and properties);- Trevarthian Farms – the in-hand, 900-acre, farm;- Mount Haven Hotel and Restaurant – 20-bedroom hotel, acquired in 2016 as part of our vision to be a force for growth in West Cornwall;- Marketing and Finance.Since the purchase significant investment was put into the Mount Haven and we are proud that in 2018 we have already been named one of the “10 cool hotels of the UK” by the Times, one of the “20 best new or refurbished hotels of the UK” by the Guardian and won the Muddy Stilettos award for Best Boutique Hotel in Cornwall. The hotel has recently successfully reopened to rave reviews after the third phase of refurbishments, on time and on budget, as a foodie boutique destination with some of the best views imaginable. At St Michael’s Mount we focused on the quality of the visitor attraction and commercial effectiveness. Visitor numbers increased 20% to 350k per year during my tenure so far.Our vision is to be a force for growth in West Cornwall, while preserving the beauty of the landscape under our care. As a result of this we also undertake significant CSR and sustainability activities.

Cornwall, Uk

One of the most instantly recognisable landmarks in the country, St Michael's Mount is a National Trust property, family home, island community and entrancing visitor destination all in one.I provided leadership and direction for the Visitor Business (Castle and Gardens) including the Car Parks situated on the mainland, the Commercial Enterprises (Catering x 2, Retail x 2 and Boating), Health & Safety as well as certain National Trust operations (including Maintenance, Projects, Conservation and Recruitment through the National Trust Recruitment Team) and Events.The key focuses of this role were commercial management of the various businesses, the continuous improvement of the visitor experience and maintaining the unique character of St Michael’s Mount for future generations.

Cornwall, Uk

My role at Eden was all about ensuring the delivery of a world class visitor experience across the Eden site. Visitor satisfaction at Eden is high at around 95%, or 85% if “Average” is excluded. For specific events such as the Sessions it is even higher, 99%. I have implemented significant changes during my time at Eden. The economic climate meant I had to restructure my department to save 20% labour costs whilst improving the visitor experience. These periods of change were utilised to create a department and a culture completely focused on the visitors and their experience. Duty Managers for example changed into Stage Managers, and Stewards into Narrators. My team and I also created a new sub-brand, Eden Project Adventure, attracting a new audience to Eden. The flagship product of this is the SkyWire, England’s longest and fastest zip wire. Under the Adventure brand team building days were also offered, which can include the zip wire, orienteering in the wider estate, ice skating, den building, baking bread and a rainforest challenge. Eden Adventure provides another sustainable income stream to Eden as well as gives visitors a new reason to come to Eden (again). The Narrators team especially became a highly talented and engaging one. They provide a warm welcome to Eden's visitors, tell stories, make music, do demonstrations, performances, and importantly ensure that our visitors “get” Eden. The team also delivers Eden’s seasonal programmes.I managed the following teams: Stage Managers, Visitor Experience Manager, Narrators, Adventure Instructors, Ice Stewards, Cash Office and Security. I also led various committees and projects, such as Eden’s Planning & Programming Group, was Project Manager for the operational aspects of YHA@Eden (youth hostel and campsite with 180 people capacity due to open in 2014) as well as Project Manager and Operational lead for the Eden Sessions music festivals. I also sat on the Operations Board.

Plymouth, United Kingdom

Plymouth Pavilions is the South West’s premier venue for concerts, exhibitions, conferences and leisure. In this position I was responsible for all operational aspects of the venue, managing the Technical, Front of House, Catering, Leisure (swimming pool and ice rink) and Building Services Departments. I led a project which resulted in the organisation gaining the Institute of Hospitality’s Hospitality Assured award, a quality accreditation based of the EFQM model. I also led the Continuous Improvement Group, a staff engagement project that has, amongst other improvements, led to the articulation of the organisation’s Commitment and Team Values.Turnover Pavilions: £6.2M. Number of staff: 75 full time, 35 part time and 100 casual staff.

London, United Kingdom

Showsec is part of Europe’s largest crowd management and event security company. In this position I managed the complete Showsec operation in the South of England and Wales; operating from offices in London and Cardiff. Responsible for operations, sales, human resources, training, profitability, strategy, business planning, and administration. I was contract manager for Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Shepherds Bush Empire, Hammersmith Apollo, Dominion Theatre, Cardiff International Arena, Live Nation (formerly Clear Channel Entertainment), BBC London, Hyde Park Summer Events, Twickenham Stadium.Turnover region: £2M. Number of staff: 10 full time and 1000 casual staff.

Amsterdam, London, Cardifff

Prepare for a senior international management position in the crowd management industry by gaining experience in all departments: Shadowing the chairman, managing director, financial director, operations director, operations managers, human resources manager, booker. Project responsibility for various outdoor events (max. capacity 65,000 people) and various Dutch venues of entertainment (max. capacity 55,000 people).

Finance For Non-Financial Executives

Master'S Degree, Human Resources Management And Services

CIPD / University of Plymouth - Outstanding Student of the Year - 2007

Master'S Degree, Health Policy And Management

Education record