LEANNE EDWARDS
Stone,Staffordshire
Summary
Dynamic and results-driven professional with over 30 years travel industry knowledge and proven sales leadership. Adept at strategic planning and negotiation expertise, leveraging creative thinking and emotional intelligence to drive business growth. Skilled in commercial & account management, with exceptional communication abilities both written and verbal. Committed to fostering long-term client relationships while pursuing opportunities for continuous professional development.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Sales Retail Partnerships
Classic Collection Holidays
Homebased
08.2023 - Current
- Head of Sales for retail partnerships, responsible for the sales delivery of Classic Collection with all retailers nationwide including UK's largest travel retailers such as Hays Travel, Barrhead Travel, Altham's, Dawson's & Sanderson's, Hays IG Group, & Advantage members to name a few.
- Manage a team of Regional Sales managers on the road visiting agent partners nationwide covering Scotland, NI, Wales & England.
- High level communication with weekly Commercial meetings to review Classic market share, share of voice and any commercial override opportunities with key trade partners
- Implemented sales strategies for the sales team quarterly to ensure that Education of our products, agent engagement & agent excitement was at the forefront of what i was delivering.
- Identifying new agent opportunities and how we collaborate effectively to ensure a new pipeline of business & growth
- Conducted detailed research for informed decision making.
Business Development Manager
Not Just Travel
Homebased
05.2022 - 08.2023
- Coach & mentored Platinum 1 Group (100 entrepreneurs) to maximise their business to its full sales potential. Travel consultants were achieving £100,000 to £150,000 of profit at this time, my role to support them to achieve Platinum level 2.
General Manager
DFS
Cannock, Staffordshire
11.2021 - 05.2022
- Setting exceptional standards and ensuring that the customer is at the heart of every decision and the ability to empower a team to deliver exceptional customer service both in store and through digital platforms
- Dynamic leadership style to enable me to support, coach, and inspire a team of sales colleagues in providing a fantastic customer experience
- Motivate and coach a team to drive a store's performance
- Tracked KPIs to drive profitability and target delivery.
Business Development Manager
Hays Travel Independence Group
Homebased, Central Division
07.2021 - 11.2021
- Accountable for the performance of the Central Divsion Independence Group, which is made up of 120+ Independent Business owners working directly with the Head of Independence Group to embed the overall group strategy
- Responsible for building firm relationships with existing Independence Group Members
- Identifying business opportunities, developing effective models and strategies to improve business performance, searching for potential clients to generate income and attract partnerships, working effectively with internal key areas of the business to achieve set targets
- Build relationships and carry out business analysis to identify areas of financial growth
- Drive sales of in house products and services whilst leveraging product knowledge to achieve revenue goals and retain agents.
Regional Sales Manager
Hays Travel
Homebased, Birmingham Region
02.2020 - 07.2021
- Achieve sales targets and KPI's across the region of 30 -34 shops & 200+ colleagues whilst inspiring, motivating & developing my team to be the best they can be
- Undertake branch visits & sales calls to ensure standards and sales are maintained and delivered whilst driving topical & commercial deals as directed by head office
- Lead and manage the branch managers to ensure policies and procedures are followed, & provide coaching, guidance, support and set professional development plans to assist employees to reach their full potential
- Responsibility for Regional P&L
- Manage recruitment for vacancies within the region
- Attend regular trade meetings to give an overview of the region performance
- Managed employee performance reviews, built positive communication and delivered development insights.
- Enhanced organisational effectiveness by implementing a robust performance management system.
Regional Sales & Engagement Manager
P&O Cruises
Homebased, Central Division
01.2018 - 02.2020
- Accountable for my geographical region (Central Division UK) for training, engagement, sales delivery and strategic planning with Travel Agents
- Provide training to travel agents in my division on the P&O Cruises brand to increase sales performance from all agents
- Improve engagement of all agents & consumers of the P&O Cruises brand & build relationships and trust with agents and consumers to generate more sales revenues
Superstore Manager
TUI
Walsall, West Midlands
06.2010 - 01.2018
- Lead the largest store for TUI during this period. The superstore was one of the worst performing stores for TUI retail when i was appointed, and it became one of TUI top retail stores during these years. I lead a team of 25 staff achieving a sales turnover of over £15 million from this store. Selling 12,000 TUI passengers per year plus the sales of cruise & Foreign Exchange.
- Developed & coach a team with various experience & skillsets to become the most successful team for TUI. Winning various company accolades during this time, including Shop Team of The Year, Virtual Contact Centre (VCC) Team of the Year, Manager of the year & numerous times my Deputies achieving Deputy Sales Manager of the year
Retail Shop Manager
TUI, Lunn Poly/Thomson
Various Midlands locations, Staffordshire/West Midlands
06.1994 - 06.2010
- Managed various Lunn Poly/Thomson/TUI shops during this time. Starting with my first Manager's position in Tunstall, Stoke-On-Trent. Moving onto Wellington, Shropshire, Telford, Merryhill & Cannock
Education
GCSEs - All GCSEs
Blessed William Howard High School
1994
Skills
- Proven sales leadership
- Relationship building
- Account/Commercial management
- Strategic planning
- Negotiation expertise
- Training and mentoring
- Communication written and verbal
- Creative Thinking
- Emotional Intelligence
- Business development
Interests
Additional informationInterests: , Travelling, socialising and spending time with my family/friends
Timeline
Head of Sales Retail Partnerships
Classic Collection Holidays
08.2023 - Current
Business Development Manager
Not Just Travel
05.2022 - 08.2023
General Manager
DFS
11.2021 - 05.2022
Business Development Manager
Hays Travel Independence Group
07.2021 - 11.2021
Regional Sales Manager
Hays Travel
02.2020 - 07.2021
Regional Sales & Engagement Manager
P&O Cruises
01.2018 - 02.2020
Superstore Manager
TUI
06.2010 - 01.2018
Retail Shop Manager
TUI, Lunn Poly/Thomson
06.1994 - 06.2010
GCSEs - All GCSEs
Blessed William Howard High School
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