kate kearns

As part of the London 2012 sales team to drive delivery of a $70m London Organizing Committee of the Games (LOCOG) revenue target, whilst proactively developing and exploiting all Olympic partner relationships worldwide. Supporting the London 2012 Sales Director with the development of strategic / tactical plans and goals to maximize 2012 opportunities through a total account management approach with a clear focus also on creating a legacy commercial plan for the sports sponsorship market across global regions post games time. Produce a clear and easy booking process for all 2012 business and a protected & easy to follow booking & payment process specifically for LOCOG. Working with systems support within Atlanta and agency to produce a complete online booking tool for the 150+ bookers across LOCOG. Implement and fulfil a reconciliation process for all VIK (Value In Kind) revenues and ensure liaison between LOCOG & IHG finance teams is consistent / thorough. Representing IHG on Industry bodies, Olympic Sport forums, trade shows and sales specific client led events.

* A member of the Brand team to launch the first Hotel Indigo outside of the Americas region. * Hotel Indigo Paddington is a branded boutique hotel consisting of 64 guest rooms & restaurant. * My role for the hotel / brand was to sell the Brand concept to all areas of the business, first and foremost was to drive business into the property by building relationships and strategies with local companies. * The second element of the role was to drive 'Brand' awareness with Global Sales organisations outside of the Americas & large global accounts. * I was also involved in the education process for all IHG employees outside of the Americas. This meant talking them through the Brand Concepts, benefits and showing them our product in London. * Finally, I worked to support the Development team with site inspections and client appointments specifically for the Hotel Indigo Brand.

Promoted within the Hotel Sales team in order to lead and support 2 Corporate Account Managers and Sales Co-ordinator whilst personally Account Managing the hotels key corporate accounts. The role then developed into leading the 6 proactive sales team members and the conference & events team in the absence of the hotel's Director of Sales. Key responsibilities during this period included day-to-day on the job coaching and mentoring, providing support to the team in order to carry out tasks in a timely manner, participate in weekly team 1-1s and provide constructive feedback and direction where applicable. Furthermore, I was involved in the preparation & participation in hotel business reviews with hotel owners / senior business stakeholders & the participation in the hotel's budgeting process.

As the world's first truly global hotel brand, we are located in more than 60 countries with local insight that comes from over 60 years of experience. We have been welcoming the well-travelled for more than half a century. As pioneers in the development of the hotel industry, we successfully blend consistent global standards with the distinctive cultures of our destinations to deliver a truly authentic and local experience. Visit us on our website: http://ihg.co/ICWebsiteLI