My Story....
My career starting in Hospitality, an Industry that gave me a broad knowledge in all aspects of business, ranging from:
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Customer Service
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Property Management
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HR, Training and Recruitment
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Financial Management - budgets, margins and cashflow
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Sales and Marketing
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Operational Management
My last employed role was as Head of Operations for an established and well-regarded hotel chain known for their “quirky luxury”. I focused on financial performance and increasing margins, as well as staff training, compliance and supplier negotiations.
I thrive on the buzz of growing a business and exceptional customer service, and so it seemed a natural step to move into freelance business support so I can offer my broad ranging skills to a wider variety of businesses and sectors. I aim to help smaller businesses to increase their bottom line by cost cutting, efficiency reviews and focused business development.
I then joined The Passionate PA as a franchisee in August 2022 to embrace the opportunity of running my own business but with all the support to step into the wider world. When the Franchise finished in 2024, I had already gained the knowledge and experience in running my own business. With the full support from my Franchisor, Refresh - Strategic Business Support was founded!
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My early days....
I left university after studying Catering and Institutional Management and within 6 months had secured an Assistant Manager role. Working my way through the ranks, I eventually embarked on running my own business providing catering to a Yacht Club and maritime coastguard training centre.
During these years, I was responsible for all elements of running my business and so I really understand the highs and lows – and everything in between! I sold my business in 2002 and returned to management roles within pubs and hotels, building on my knowledge and experience further and developing a superb management style that sees my previous employees thanking me for their career opportunities to this day.
Between 2013 and 2015, I was keen to help struggling hospitality businesses so provided consultancy services to several clients who wished to improve their financial position. This work included project management of the changeover in PMS and EPOS systems in an 80 bedroomed 4* hotel, implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and working processes, providing industry specific training, menu costing with consideration of religious and allergy requirements, supplier negotiations and recruitment – lots of recruitment! It’s also fair to say that I was the kind of consultant who led from within the team… if something needed doing, I was very likely to be found rolling up my sleeves and making it happen.
All this gave me such a great grounding to become a Freelancer, offering Strategic Business Support. With a keen eye for detail and commercial decision-making, I'm always full of energy and ideas. When I'm not working with my clients, I can be found galloping across the New Forest as I'm an avid horse rider. And if I'm not riding, I might be rescuing dogs from Italy and if I'm not doing that, I’ll be getting an adrenaline hit, following in my famous father’s footsteps who was an exceptional racing driver taking a Class win in the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans!
