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Work Background
Maggie Swain Events LimitedDirector
Aug. 2015Weybridge, SurreyAfter working for Centaur for 14 years I decided that the time was right to set up my own company and although my many years at Centaur were fabulous and I learnt so much, I have never looked back!
Working for myself gives me the opportunity to be at the forefront of event organising rather than overseeing others, something I missed when I was Operations Director. It also gives me the chance to work be flexible around other projects and family life. I currently work for Castle Media Limited as Operations Manager on their portfolio of Build It Live exhibitions and have done for the past 9 years. It's great that I feel like part of their core team, it doesn't feel like being a freelancer at all! This is an exciting portfolio, going back to hands on event operations - dealing with suppliers, venues, exhibitors. My most memorable Build It Live was on a greenfield site so I had the added operational challenges that comes with this - building a 4000sqm temporary structure, bringing in all services. Currently there are three Build It Live exhibitions held at the Kent Event Centre, Bicester Heritage & Westpoint. Another recent client I have worked with is Roar B2B, a relatively new exhibition organiser, but a great company with great people. They have many exhibitions across various sectors but I ave organised the following for them - Flexpo Live (Business Design Centre), UK Cyber Week (Business Design Centre), The International Imagining Congress (Olympia) and B2B Marketing Expo (Excel). Other past projects include organising the National Custom & Self Build Association Conference and Networking Event (which I'm due to work on again in 2024), as well as a two month contract working for Mark Allen Exhibitions, organising their Energy from Waste Conference and Food Innovate Conferences. I also went back to work at Centaur assist them on a restructure and supplier appointments, as well as mentoring the new Operations Director as she bedded into her new role.
Centaur Media PlcOperations Director
Dec. 2011 - Jul. 2015London, United KingdomAs Operations Director at Centaur Media I was responsible for the successful operational delivery of all of Centaur Media's exhibition portfolio. My team ran between 15 and 20 exhibitions annually with a total budget of £2.5 million. As Operations Director my responsibilities extended beyond the exhibitions operations team. One of my key tasks in 2014 was to review all of Centaur Media's live events and propose a new structure, to create efficiencies and to promote best practice. This resulted in a restructure, bringing all operations and event delivery staff into two teams (exhibitions and events). This has promoted better collaboration under the Live department and opens up more cross department opportunities. A large part of my role was appointing key suppliers for shell scheme, electrics, features, carpet, furniture, audio visual, graphics etc. This involved managing the supplier appointment process - from writing the tender document, to analysing costs, to negotiating terms, service levels etc.
Centaur Media PlcHead of Operations
Jan. 2006 - Dec. 2011London, United KingdomAs Head of Operations I was responsible for managing the day to day running of the Operations Team. This involved staff management, appraisals, pay reviews, resource management. My key, and most enjoyable role as Head of Ops, was to support and manage the workload of the team and give guidance and coaching to the individual team members. Conducting weekly one to one meetings, and wider team meetings, meant I was able to stay in touch with the needs of my team members and found a happy balance between managing an individual and allowing them the freedom to develop their knowledge and experience and to make their own decisions. I had an excellent staff retention record with fantastic team morale which contributed to me to winning a company wide award of 'Best Performance by a Service Individual'. During my time as Head of Operations there was no department Operations Director so in addition to managing the team I was also tasked with supplier management and managing the department's procurement process. During the 2007 recession I was able to save the department £500,000 in budget cutbacks by managing our supplier tendering process in a different way to how it had been done in previous years.
Centaur Media PlcOperations Manager
Jan. 2004 - Jan. 2006London, United KingdomManaging a given portfolio of exhibitions involving:
Budget setting and management
Designing and costing feature areas
Organising on site staff for registration, security, stewards, cleaning
Floorplan management
Ordering shell scheme, audio visual, floor covering, electrics
Planning signage Exhibitor liaison
Contractor liaison
Managing the build and breakdown schedule
Centaur Media PlcOperations Executive
Mar. 2003 - Jan. 2004London, United Kingdom
Centaur Media PlcOperations Assistant
Sep. 2001 - Mar. 2003London, United Kingdom
SnowlineChalet Host
Dec. 2000 - May. 2001Meribel, FranceAs Chalet Host I, along side my fellow chalet host (who is now my husband), had to cook, clean and entertain up to 16 guest each week who had paid a considerable amount of money to enjoy a weeks skiing in one of the most popular resorts in the Alps. Incredibly challenging but enjoyable, we were faced with a wide mix of personalities to deal with and had to adapt out approach to deal with this. I learnt a lot about people during this job, and about working under pressure, and I think it stood me in good stead for when I returned to England to start my career in events.
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