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I am an entrepreneurial Chief Executive and Board Director, blending deep marketing acumen with extensive tech expertise over a diverse 30-year international career. Specializing in steering VC and PE-owned businesses towards growth, I've served 11 years in top executive roles. My leadership spans marketing, sales, strategy and operations, with a proven track record in performance marketing and e-commerce, particularly online sales conversion.As an empowering leader recognised for inspiring and coaching teams, I have led HQ Travel Group since 2019, returning it to profitability just 9 months after COVID-19 closed down all travel in early 2020. In 2024 I led the sale of the company to private equity fund, Castlerock.Prior to joining HQ Travel Group, I launched and scaled two other PE/VC funded digital marketing enterprises in Europe to multimillion-dollar revenues, and contributed over $1 billion in incremental revenue to Google as global business manager for its largest advertising client.My business book 'Managing People' was published in 2021 as part of Penguin's Business Experts series. It became an Amazon top 40 business book, with a reader rating of 4.9 out of 5. For more information, visit www.managingpeople.tips.I wrote the award-winning screenplay, 'Zero Day', a feature-length action-thriller movie, which won Best Screenplay at the New York & Los Angeles Film Festival and was subsequently acquired by Playback Motion Pictures.I represented Great Britain at target rifle shooting 1991-2000.
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Group CeoTravviaBrisbane, Qld, Au
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Chief Executive OfficerHq Travel Group Nov 2019 - PresentAuckland, New ZealandHQT is the world’s largest travel group specialising in impact and educational travel programs, with operations in over 60 countries. Its two brands, International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ) and Intern Abroad HQ, together service B2C and B2B customers from 100+ countries. Both are market leaders, each having been named the world's highest rated travel provider in their fields in 2021, 2022 and 2023. HQT is also the only global volunteering and internships provider to be a certified B Corporation, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to the highest standards of sustainability, social practices and corporate governance.I was hired following private equity firm Mercury Capital's acquisition of the business. After saving the business from bankruptcy in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic reduced revenues to zero, I successfully turned the business around and in May 2024 I led the sale of Mercury's shareholding to New Zealand private equity fund, Castlerock. -
Board DirectorHq Travel Group Oct 2020 - May 2024Auckland, New Zealand
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Author Of 'Managing People' - Amazon Top 40 Business BookPenguin Random House Uk Sep 2019 - Dec 2022Author of 'Managing People', published by Penguin Books in November 2021 as part of Penguin's Business Experts series of professional development books. It became an Amazon Top 40 Business Book and is rated 4.9 out of 5 on Amazon.For more information, go to www.managingpeople.tips -
Chief Executive OfficerKpex Limited Jul 2018 - Nov 2019Auckland, New ZealandKPEX (Kiwi Premium Ad Exchange) was an advertising technology consortium jointly owned by New Zealand’s four largest media companies (Stuff, TVNZ, Mediaworks and NZME) as their exclusive sales channel for their online ads.I took over the leadership of KPEX from its founding CEO, reporting to a Board comprising executive representatives from the four shareholders. I grew annual turnover to $14m, most of which was delivered to the shareholders in revenue share. In Sept 2019 I had to execute a voluntary liquidation of the business when the largest shareholder, Stuff, pulled out of the consortium following its acquisition by Nine Australia, leaving the consortium unviable for the other three shareholders.
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Managing Director, EuropeL2 Inc. Jan 2016 - May 2018London, United KingdomAcquired by Gartner in 2017, L2 was a VC-backed business intelligence firm that benchmarked the digital marketing and e-commerce performance of over 2,300 consumer brands and retailers globally. Its ‘Digital IQ Index’ was the de facto industry metric for digital competency. We conducted comprehensive quantitative audits of each brand's effectiveness at utilising digital channels, including paid and organic search, email, display advertising and website customer journeys, identifying best practices and benchmarking brands against the market leaders. Our Digital IQ reports helped executives understand their online strengths and weaknesses, identify opportunities to improve consumer engagement and conversion, prioritise investments, and hold internal teams and vendors accountable.I was hired to launch L2's first office outside US, setting up a European headquarters in London with a local team spanning research, client consulting, marketing, and business development. I personally oversaw all European client deliverables and presented digital performance insights, best practice case studies, and strategic recommendations to c-suites across brands as varied as Vodafone, Carrefour, Marks & Spencer, Chanel, Accor, Hugo Boss, Moncler, Desigual, Logitech, Puig, P&G, and Unilever.I was part of the executive team that sold the company to Gartner in March 2017. I then led the European integration process until I voluntarily exited the company after my one year earn-out. -
Board AdvisorDiginius Mar 2015 - Jun 2017London, United KingdomDiginius is an online marketing optimisation and data analytics platform. I provided strategic consultancy and coaching to the founder and executive management team around value proposition, sales and marketing collateral, fundraising and product roadmap. I had to resign my advisory role when L2 was acquired by Gartner. -
Non-Executive DirectorMarfeel Nov 2014 - Nov 2015Barcelona Area, SpainMarfeel was one of WIRED's 100 hottest European startups in 2015. It helped publishers monetize their mobile traffic with an ad-optimized reading experience designed for smartphones and tablets. As the Non-Executive Director representing shareholder Wayra, I provided strategic consulting and board-level input to the executive management team in the areas of sales and marketing effectiveness, investment prioritisation and operational efficiency. My involvement ended when Wayra completed a successful exit in November 2015. -
Chief Executive Officer, AxonixTelefónica Dec 2013 - Apr 2015London, United KingdomAxonix was a SaaS advertising technology company created as a joint venture between Telefonica and private equity group Blackstone. As the founder CEO, I launched the business and grew it from 1 to 32 employees, establishing all sales, marketing, engineering, and support functions, with full P&L responsibility. -
Global Commercial Director, Mobile AdvertisingTelefónica May 2012 - Dec 2013London, United KingdomI was recruited as the sales leader to launch Telefonica's mobile advertising business globally. I set up a global team based in London to support the business in UK, Germany, Ireland, Czech Republic and Spain, and established new local teams in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. I negotiated our mobile advertising partnership agreement with Sprint (USA operator) and Telefonica's global contracts with third party media sales partners. I led the development and launch of several new mobile advertising products, including the launch of a Google AdWords Premier Reseller business in 4 countries.Winner of ‘Best Global Operator’ at Mobile Marketing Association’s “Smarties” Awards, September 2013.Winner of Telefonica Digital’s ‘Outstanding Team Achievement Award’, October 2013
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Global Business Leader, AgenciesGoogle Feb 2008 - Apr 2012London, United KingdomI was the first hire into Google's Global Agencies Team, tasked with growing Google's share of budgets at media groups WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, and Aegis by engaging with their global leadership through consultative sales and the agreement of joint global initiatives. As the team grew, I took personal responsibility for Google's $1.5BN global business with Publicis Group, its largest media customer. I developed global revenue growth programmes and led their execution through local sales teams across more than 40 countries. I closed Google's first ever global display trading deal, worth $100M+, and was awarded a Google patent.Won Google's 'Exceptional Contribution Award' for two consecutive quarters in Q3 and Q4 2008. -
Uk General Manager3M Oct 2005 - Jan 2008Bracknell, UkLeading 3M's Optical Systems division in the UK, I had P&L responsibility across an extensive portfolio of B2B & B2C products and was a member of the Management Operating Committee for the $150M parent group. I exceeded sales growth targets by over 20% in both 2006 & 2007 and my marketing strategy was recognised as global best practice and replicated across other European markets in 2007 & 2008.As part of this role, I launched a new B2B digital signage software business, personally writing the strategy & business plan, securing investment, and generating a multi-million dollar sales pipeline with brands including LloydsTSB, McDonalds, CBS Outdoor, and JCDecaux. -
Business Planning Manager, Emea3M Jan 2004 - Dec 2005Bracknell, UkWorking closely with the Managing Directors of 3M's 11 subsidiaries in EMEA, I launched a standardised business planning process & toolkit across 60 countries and developed market-entry strategies for a selection of new businesses. The planning toolkit I developed was still in use in 2012.For this work, I won 3M’s prestigious Global Sales & Marketing Professionalism Award, the corporation’s top global marketing excellence prize.In addition I delivered a strategic review of 3M UK’s complete business portfolio that was recognised by the Managing Director & UK Board as a major driver behind the turnaround of 3M UK's performance to deliver 9% growth in 2006 after 5 years of declining revenues. The portfolio management approach I implemented was repeated by the Board again in 2006 & 2007.
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European Strategic Projects Manager3M Sep 2002 - Dec 2003Bracknell, UkAs 3M Europe's lead internal strategy consultant, I led the market analysis and business planning for a number of high priority market-entry projects. For this work I received 3M's Special Recognition Award with the citation “Simon provided inspirational leadership to the business team”.
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Management ConsultantDiamondcluster International Jul 2001 - Oct 2001Mid-MBA internship with this global technology consultancy firm. -
Account DirectorProximity London Jan 1997 - Aug 2000London Area, United KingdomClient service Account Director at this leading marketing agency, managing primarily FMCG clients. -
Marketing ManagerRoderick Manhatten Group Ltd Sep 1995 - Dec 1996London Area, United Kingdom
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Pre-University EmployeeIbm Sep 1991 - Sep 1993BasingstokeSoftware engineer (NOSS & SQL) for gap year before joining university then again during the summer between my first and second years of study. Built internal knowledge and talent management platform for IBM UK.
Simon Birkenhead Skills
Simon Birkenhead Education Details
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Master Of Business Administration - Mba -
Social & Political Sciences -
High School
Frequently Asked Questions about Simon Birkenhead
What company does Simon Birkenhead work for?
Simon Birkenhead works for Travvia
What is Simon Birkenhead's role at the current company?
Simon Birkenhead's current role is Group CEO.
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What schools did Simon Birkenhead attend?
Simon Birkenhead attended London Business School, University Of Cambridge, Wellington College.
What skills is Simon Birkenhead known for?
Simon Birkenhead has skills like Digital Marketing, Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Online Advertising, Business Strategy, Mobile Marketing, New Business Development, Business Development, Product Management, Management, Leadership, Product Marketing.
Who are Simon Birkenhead's colleagues?
Simon Birkenhead's colleagues are Joyce Hus-Tinkelenberg, Lauren Sanderson, Jacqueline Toua-Kalava, John Lewis, Juliana Rodrigues, Karl Fiddes, Ruta Brown.
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