Aidan Whelan
Farnborough,HAM
Summary
Highly motivated, tenacious and professional Operations Director with over 30 year's senior management experience in leading successful sales teams and operations, with the ability to adapt to any industry with ease.
Confident and experienced in leading high-performing teams to achieve key objectives. Keen problem-solver and logical thinker for reliable issues identification and solution planning. Communicates well with diverse staff teams to engage, enthuse and motivate to success.
Successfully equipped to plan, lead and optimise operations for a changing landscape. Accomplished in delivering above-expected results while streamlining operations. Ambitious to affect change and bring results in a new environment.
Overview
42
42
years of professional experience
2
2
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work History
Team Leader (Transport/Logistics)
BCA (British Car Auctions)
Blackbushe, Surrey
02.2015 - Current
- Responsible for managing 14 team members.
- Implementing new processes and overseeing the daily operation of post sale logistics.
- Ensuring all exit paperwork is in place and the process runs smoothly and effectively.
- Provided leadership and direction for employees, supervising activities to drive productivity and efficiency.
- Fostered positive employee relationships through communication, training and coaching.
- Followed opening, closing and shift changeover procedures for seamless operations.
- Responsible for 3,000 movements per week via various dispatch mechanisms.
- Led performance reviews and tailored employee feedback to facilitate professional development.
- Reported on team performance to higher leadership, proactively offering action for areas of improvement.
- Supported team to overcome new challenges by forecasting knowledge and skills gaps.
- Delegated tasks to make best use of individuals' skills.
- Prioritised and assigned tasks for strategic and optimised distribution of workloads.
- Promoted professionalism among staff to develop productive relationships.
Operations Director
Ritz G5
Stockport, Cheshire
01.2012 - 01.2015
- Working directly with the CFO.
- Tasked to bring the Ritz G5 brand to the UK.
- Identifying new opportunities across the UK, working with land agencies and national house builders.
- Cultivated culture of continuous improvement, clearly outlining objectives and ideal processes.
- Built productive working relationships to inspire and guide personnel at multiple business levels.
- Led site operations team to deliver on KPI targets with consistency.
- Delivered impressive business growth while creating cost-effective solutions to meet required budget.
- Planned daily operations to maximise productivity, monitoring KPIs to promote consistent progress towards targets.
- Devised strategic objectives to guide business decision-making and achieve long-term goals.
- Recruiting the UK team from ground zero to implementation.
Operations Director
Right Climate Air Conditioning Ltd
Farnborough, Hampshire
01.2011 - 01.2012
- Employed to develop/oversee new customers and maintain existing customers.
- To work closely with the Sales Director to ensure that our service level surpass the industry standard.
- Recruit reliable contractors to cover the UK.
- To project manage installations and maintenance for our clients such as Starbucks, Wagamama, White Company and Welcome Break to name a few.
- Planned daily operations to maximise productivity, monitoring KPIs to promote consistent progress towards targets.
- Reduced costs and improved operations by analysing processes and customer feedback.
- Secured process improvements for increased quality, compliance and efficiency.
- Oversee budget governance to achieve cost reduction targets.
Operations Director
Farnborough Football Club
Farnborough, Hampshire
01.2007 - 01.2011
- Recruited to oversee and restructure the football club in all aspects.
- Ensure continuous revenue streams which could support the club moving forward; as well as monitoring financial controls/budgets to ensure delivery.
- To create a new staff structure throughout the whole company and recruit key personnel for key responsibilities.
- To maintain and deliver sound operational procedures across all aspects of the company.
- This included all food, beverage, sponsorship and advertising opportunities.
- Oversee all football development, contracts, players budgets and transfer negotiations.
- In addition, oversee all match day preparation to include security, customer safety, liaising with match day policing and stewarding.
- Attend pre match SAG meetings with police, fire crew, ambulance, the FA and Hampshire County Council officers.
- I am well versed with the purple and green guides set out by the FA.
Commercial Director
Phileas Fogg Travel Agency
Farnborough, Hampshire
01.1995 - 01.2006
- I became the Commercial Director of the travel company in 1995.
- The company grew steadily, and we opened 5 retail outlets in our region plus 3 call centres, taking on and increasing staff up to a team of 121.
- This provided me the opportunity to work within and build a highly successful business, growing the business in all areas.
- As Commercial Director I was responsible for all aspects of the company's growth, mainly in operations, gaining ever increasing repeat sales revenue and ensuring customer retention.
- I also had responsibility for accounting, planning, IT solutions, staffing & recruitment, setting up policies and procedures and liaising with outside agencies where necessary.
- It was a very rewarding role, my financial understanding of financial accounts grew with the company, a true challenge that I have built my reputation on.
- Implemented effective pricing strategies, balancing competitiveness with profitability.
- Established budgets for programme activities and controlled expenditure to meet targets.
- Planned and managed resources and budget to support and deliver objectives.
- Formulated and executed innovative sales strategies, resulting in increased market share and revenue growth.
- Applied expertise in team leadership to address productivity and performance issues, motivating staff to achieve KPIs.
- Developed pricing structures based on historical and current trends, competitor activities and supply chain data.
- Exceeded sales targets by establishing goals and incremental metrics to drive commercial performance.
- Produced and implemented strategic commercial plans to grow profit and meet organisational objectives.
- Managed multiple partner relationships and internal projects simultaneously in fast-paced work environment.
- Oversaw daily operations to achieve high productivity levels.
General Manager
Frontiers Travel
Chiswick, Hounslow
01.1992 - 01.1994
- Responsible for all contract negotiations with all third-party suppliers including airlines, hotels and all US bound tour operators.
- Negotiated contract terms to be recognised as an official tour operator for the 1994 World Cup in the USA.
- Contracted to support the FAI, BBC and ITV in organizing private charters and making all their arrangements throughout the USA. (150 people).
- Negotiated with vendors and service providers to control corporate expenditures.
- Prepared and reviewed procedural documents for daily operations.
- Spearheaded strategic planning and decision-making processes aligning with mission and stakeholder interests.
- Served as official representative of the organisation to public groups and government agencies.
- Identified and resolved operational issues impacting productivity, performance or profitability.
- Worked with board of directors to establish objectives and decisively lead operations.
Business Development & Sales Director
TPC Travel
Farnborough, Hampshire
01.1989 - 01.1992
- Opened my own travel business selling US properties to UK residents.
- I opened an office in the USA (Tampa, Florida) and in the UK.
- Responsible for generating all leads via trade shows and media campaigns.
- TPC Travel was the first company in the UK to rent US holiday homes in Florida to the UK market.
- The company was sold to Frontiers Travel PLC in 1992.
- Analysed industry and competitor trends to enhance sales strategy.
- Optimised sales methods to best engage, acquire and retain customers.
- Unearthed new target markets, prospective clients and key sector decision-makers.
Manager/Area Director
Parkers Estate Agents
Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead
01.1984 - 01.1989
- Employed to overhaul a particularly poorly performing branch.
- I was responsible for recruiting all new staff to restructure the branch.
- In my first year the branch increased its performance and made a profit. The first profitable year in 5 years.
- The following year the profit rose by a further 12%. I was promoted to Area Director, and responsible for a further 22 branches.
- I led 22 managers and a further 46 staff.
- My key responsibility - to ensure targets were met for my region and budget costs were maintained.
- Streamlined processes to improve and optimise office operations.
- Displayed energy and enthusiasm in fast-paced environment.
- Managed teams by overseeing hiring, training and professional growth of employees.
- Delivered exceptional customer service by proactively listening to concerns and answering questions.
Trainee Manager/Negotiator
Mann & Co Estate Agents
01.1982 - 01.1984
- Employed as a Trainee Manager, learning all the necessary skills to manage a branch in the future
- Top sales negotiator consistently breaking company records along the way.
Education
All Hallows RC Secondary School
Farnham, Surrey 08.1978 - 07.1980
Skills
- Operations Management
- People Management
- Change Management
- Recruitment, Training & Employee Development
- Production reporting
- Operational support
- Leadership
Certification
EUFA B Qualified Coach
Personal Information
Hobbies: Football, Travelling, Fine dining, Golfing
Custom
- Created and implemented operations/customer excellence delivery plan to launch a new travel agency, Phileas Fogg Travel group (5 Branches & 3 call centres). This resulted in this business becoming a major success in the industry within 5 years, accumulating an annual turnover in excess of £21 million, with a 57% increase in business volume in a 5 year period.
- Created the team by recruiting, managing and training all of the key personnel at all levels and across all areas. The company became the 11th fastest growing company in the UK, recognised by Deloit Touche, Sunday Times and Virgin Fast Track 100 companies.
- Director of Aldershot FC for 12 years.
Timeline
Team Leader (Transport/Logistics)
BCA (British Car Auctions)
02.2015 - Current
Operations Director
Ritz G5
01.2012 - 01.2015
Operations Director
Right Climate Air Conditioning Ltd
01.2011 - 01.2012
Operations Director
Farnborough Football Club
01.2007 - 01.2011
Commercial Director
Phileas Fogg Travel Agency
01.1995 - 01.2006
General Manager
Frontiers Travel
01.1992 - 01.1994
Business Development & Sales Director
TPC Travel
01.1989 - 01.1992
Manager/Area Director
Parkers Estate Agents
01.1984 - 01.1989
Trainee Manager/Negotiator
Mann & Co Estate Agents
01.1982 - 01.1984
All Hallows RC Secondary School
08.1978 - 07.1980
EUFA B Qualified Coach
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