Simon Backley Email and Phone Number

Managed the operations component of the business including staff recruitment, staff scheduling, staff training, vessel maintenance, and property maintenance, supply management and inventory management.Developed numerous policies, procedures and documentation to enhance the client’s experience.Significantly improved net income through the implementation of improved inventory management and work logging procedures.Implemented an inventory management system to track over 4000 distinct items holding a value of $200K USD. Managed inventory levels, ordered, processed and priced all imported items.Marketed TMM Belize through the use of Facebook targeted advertising. Provided text, photo and video media for Facebook and magazine. Screened clients for suitability based on established criteria, briefed clients on the waters of Belize (1.5 to 2 hour sessions per charter), briefed clients on safety and all components of the vessel (1 to 1.5 hours), supervised skills tests for clients and signed off on vessel release.Improved the safety and relevance of the available charts of Belize with new waypoints, new routes, anchorages, points of interest, hazard demarcation and corrections. Implemented improved navigation procedures and facilities.Provided all IT support for the base. Re-wrote text for the Belize section of the TMM Yacht Charters website (new site currently in design phase).Transported vessels to haul out facilities in Guatemala for yearly maintenance and repairs. The transport of the vessels involved sailing or motoring 100 to 200 mile legs day and night in all types of weather conditions.Developed policies and procedures that were adopted by the Belize Port Authority for the licensing of bareboat charter captains in Belize.Negotiated with Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Finance regarding issues affecting the Belize Liveaboard Operators Association.

In December of 2002 I established Lagniappe Provisioning on Ambergris Caye, providing Internet based pre-ordering of groceries, wine, ready to serve meals and other items to tourists staying in condominiums and private rental homes on the island.The company was started on a very small initial investment and rapidly grew in size. Within three weeks of the website launch the first orders were being processed. The company eventually employed two full-time and four part-time staff and serviced rental units and charter yachts across the entire island.All technology work including website design, automated ordering and invoicing forms were designed and coded by myself.

Managed the day to day operations of the gym and twelve apartment units. Significantly improved the membership and profits within a short time frame. Improved collections of rent and decreased skips. Managed and/or performed all repairs, improvements and general maintenance of the building and gym facilities.

From July of 2003 until November of 2004 I was employed by TMM Yacht Charters on Ambergris Caye in the capacity of Dockmaster. My primary function was managing the maintenance and turnaround of a fleet of 21 yachts ranging in size from 32’ to 46’. Secondary to that was analyzing and improving procedures related to work flow and parts management. I was also responsible for sailing boats back and forth between the Placencia and San Pedro

In March of 2002 I was given the task of creating a new division for Belize Expeditions (a wholesaler/DMC operating in Belize) that would be responsible for providing custom itineraries to Virtuoso travel agents and retail clients primarily out of the US. By November of 2002 I had quoted over 100 jobs with a total value of US$400K primarily based on word of mouth marketing assisted by a self-generated e-mail marketing campaign. My close rate on inquiries was 30%, with over 500 bed nights sold. Created an Excel spreadsheet that, when individual components of a job were entered, would provide the wholesale value of the job, the suggested retail amount, a breakdown of direct costs, gross profit margin as a value and percentage, net profit margin as a value and percentage and provided a close-out form for tax purposes. Created procedures for tracking, prioritizing and replying to incoming e-mails from agents and retail clients. Handling between 50-150 e-mails per day. Created scheduling procedures for dealing with all aspects of job management: tracking incoming and outgoing payments, scheduling activities specific to the management of the job. Created a “shopping list” spreadsheet for group-based activities that, by checking off individual items, would produce a final net and rack price for all components. Developed the initial concepts for a new website for Lamanai Outpost Lodge and managed the creation of the site to publication (www.lamanai.com). Developed the initial concept for the Belize Expeditions website and oversaw and assisted in all coding and design tasks to publication (www.bzexpeditions.com). Installed a multi-computer network (12 active computers plus 4 “loaner” laptops for researchers) at Lamanai Outpost Lodge utilizing both wireless and cabled connections. Servers consist of a file server and mail server directly connected to the Internet via satellite.

Shift Supervisor/Datacentre Manager/IT Consultant

Jr. Computer Operator/Sr. Computer Operator/Operations Analyst/Shift Supervisor

Marine supply sales.