Rosie Shephard

Join me for The Sustainable Hotel Exchange: Data Matters webinar next Wednesday! We will talk all about hotels and sustainability data with the insight and knowledge of these fantastic industry experts. Sign up below.

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Critical agenda and event for leaders in hospitality and sustainability. Mark your calendar!

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As LandAid gears up for the biggest event of 2025 - #SleepOut on February 27th, everyone in the property sector can play their part in contributing to the £1m fundraising target: ❄️ If you live near one of the eight event locations (Cambridge, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Leeds and London) you can sign up to join the coolest (certainly the coldest) property networking event you are likely to be a part of. 💰 If you operate a property business in one of these locations, you can get involved as a regional sponsor. 🎪 If you live anywhere else (or even if you're on holiday) you can sign-up for #SleepOutatHome and spend the night in your garden, car, shed or anywhere that takes you away from your bed for one night. 👍 If you can't make the event, you can still donate to the cause at https://lnkd.in/eYaFguWa Early bird registration closes on 20th December and for the next 10 days you can sign-up for a lower registration fee. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eXdwtskJ Figures from last year (2022-2023) show that almost 136,000 young people (under 24) experienced, or were at risk of homelessness, so even by that measure, during the two days that the SleepOut spans, there will be another 744 young people who will seek help with somewhere warm and safe to sleep. That is before we consider that the numbers have already worsened this year. Come and join the 1,500+ property professionals who will support this event and make it the biggest and most successful fundraising event yet! #Property #Realestate #propertydevelopment #homes #homelessness #youthhomelessness #landaid #charity #fundraising #networking #youthhomelessness #housing #networking

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Is Happiness Your Company's Superpower? 🌟 Earlier this month, I had the privilege of attending the Alliance of Independent Agencies’ Festival of Happiness 2024, with fellow bean and Mental Health First Aider, Abi Fraser. A day dedicated to exploring the powerful connection between agency culture, wellbeing, and high performance. The key takeaway? Culture isn’t fluffy - it’s commercial. The stats speak for themselves: poor mental health costs UK businesses £51 billion annually, yet teams with strong cultures outperform others by 4x. Here’s what I learned: * Happiness is measurable: Tools like the The Happiness Index highlight how emotional data - not just engagement - can help leaders understand their teams. *Relationships matter: Feeling connected and safe at work significantly impacts retention. Have a workplace bestie? You’re less likely to leave. *Leaders set the tone: From values to actions, leadership shapes the culture and drives wellbeing - a BIG thank you to Elaine Jobson for sharing her insights and experiences. It’s not a sprint, though. Building a culture that fosters happiness and productivity takes time, a clear plan, and collective effort. But the results? Worth every step! Read my latest jellybean blog to learn more about the importance of culture when it comes to high performance. #FestivalOfHappiness #WorkplaceWellbeing #AgencyLife #Leadership https://lnkd.in/evbiuGCb

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Alongside detailed metrics, we add a testimonial to every case study on the (new) Rooster. website. While data demonstrates the ROI, testimonials provide insight into the ROR or ‘Return on Relationship’. At Rooster, we track both. ROI 🧠 + ROR 💛 = 📈 #rooster #commsagency #integratedcomms #agencylondon #pr #representation #social #influencer #experiential #creative #reputation #travel #property #consumer #B2B/#corporate

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An interesting and fun afternoon at Imbibe 24 yesterday. In a hall at London's Olympia packed full of drinks and hospitality brands Beth Marchant and I: - tried nut moonshine (amazing), Moutai (biggest drinks brand in the world with a awe inspiring story, but frankly disgusting!), and a beautiful cocktail from the team at the bar in the Shard's Shangri-La Hotel - learnt that there's no tax on beer up to 3.4% ABV which is why there are so many 3% beers coming out now, that there are around 100,000 wines on sales in the UK, and that during COVID BAME hospitality workers were 26x more likely to lose their jobs - saw so many opportunities for brand design agencies to be at this conference, telling the drinks and hospitality industries about the value they can bring And yet, not a single brand design agency on any stage! OFFF, D&AD, HOW, SXSW - you can't move for brand design agencies, and rightly so. But our industry is missing a trick by not being out and having a presence at conferences in other sectors. At Red Setter we're changing that. We're getting our clients out on these stages. #prfordesignagencies

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With a Q4 full of global events in the region coming to a close, one of the major learnings that should come out of this period is that having a solid crisis comms plan in place, for any brand, is invaluable. Here, I talk to Gulf Business about the importance of issues planning in a hyper-connected world, and the six essential steps to cover in your plan:

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Today I had the privilege of joining the PR careers panel discussion, with final year Media and Communications students at University of Surrey, organised and chaired by Dr Robyn Muir PhD. Alongside Silvia de Candia, director of PR and Communications at Accor and Scarlet Payne, PR and Content specialist at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, we answered students' questions about how to get into PR; how to prepare for interviews; what employers look for; what the main differences are between working in a PR agency, in-house, and as a freelancer; what our day-to-day tasks involve; how to move up the career ladder; how many years' experience are required before becoming freelance; and the evolving role of influencers. As Robyn had shared the students' questions in advance, I also shared them with my former agency colleagues, Paul Stallard and Peppa Sheridan, MCIPR and Gina Hough to get their perspectives and provide the students with a broader view. There was a clear consensus on the first question: 'What do you enjoy most about working in PR?' Answer? Seeing positive coverage in the media. I've been working in this industry for 25 years (most of the students weren't born then, I know this because I asked them 😊) and I still get a real buzz from seeing a client's article or comment published in our target media. The other aspect of PR is that it provides multiple opportunities to meet and learn from some incredible people: clients, journalists and colleagues, some of whom will become lifelong friends. This is a people business after all. That led on to one of the other questions, 'What advice would you give to someone seeking a career in PR? All of my colleagues advised students to select the sectors that truly interest and inspire them, find companies that serve those sectors, then research the firms that they are applying to, read the company blogs, see what the media have reported about them, and understand their USPs. Silvia da Candia talked about the value of transferrable skills. Candidates may not have held a PR role, but if they've successfully organised, promoted and hosted an event, if they've written to their local paper about an issue that they're passionate about, or if they've hosted a podcast, written a blog, or worked on hospital radio, they can draw on these experiences and learning points. When asked about the qualities that are most valued in PR applicants, the colleagues I'd quizzed ahead of the panel mentioned adaptability, a strong work ethic, a can-do attitude, and resilience. Knowing them all, and how much they've made me laugh over the years, I'd add that a sense of humour is a vital quality in this business. Ultimately, PR is about communicating with people. Being able to use words and images to raise awareness, support, a smile, or an eyebrow will stand these students in good stead. With thanks to Dr Robyn Muir and the students of University of Surrey Wishing you every success in your careers..

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Loved working with Bouteco on the latest sustainability report for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. As someone who's particularly passionate about tourism that's community-owned and operated, I tend to be a little sceptical about sustainability claims from big hotel groups. However, MO is making significant strides across their 40 properties. It's always interesting to see how change happens. Here it seems to be the magic combination of top-down policies based on clear auditing and targets, as well as smaller actions presumably led by individuals supported by their managers. Some interesting tidbits: -99% of single-use plastic eliminated, largely possible due to working directly with suppliers to create plastic-free toiletries. -AI-powered system, Winnow, being rolled out across all hotels to monitor food waste in 2024. -Carbon reduced by 29% per sq m across the group since 2012, with the aim of reducing this to 50% by 2030. -In Kamphaeng Phet, the hotel works closely with @LesFarmiers to convert food waste (eggshells and coffee grounds) into fertiliser. -In Amber, the restaurant at the Hong Kong hotel, chefs collaborate with a local farming co-operative to produce limited edition food/drinks from surplus seasonal fruit. As ever, fulfilling and fun to work with Juliet Kinsman. Thanks for the commission. https://lnkd.in/eHxFM6PJ #Sustainabletourism #Sustainabilityreport

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Looking forward to exploring the future of magazines in today's ever-evolving media landscape at the PPA 2024 Festival with industry leaders Katie Vanneck from #Hearst and Phillip Swinden from #Haymarket. 📚✨ Key issues we will look at include: 🔹 Consumer brands have some of the deepest connections to their readers around. How do you sustain this amidst the rise of creators and influencers? 🤝 🔹 The challenges and realities of consumer media venturing into B2B verticals. Is this shift as seamless as it appears? 🔄 Let me know what your key questions are. #MediaInnovation #PPAFestival2024 #PublishingFuture #DigitalTransformation

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📣 Calling anyone considering entering The King’s Awards for Enterprise this year. This free event is a must ⬇️ Date: 6 June 2024 Time: 11:00 – 12:30 BST Place: Live online Cost: Free Join the session to discover; 👑 How to check the eligibility criteria and meet the requirements 👑 How to select the category that best suits your business and achievements 👑 How to write an entry that scores highly with the judges PLUS exclusive case studies and insights into the latest award trends Bring your questions and there will be a Q&A session to ask me anything about the awards. This free webinar is for anyone thinking of entering the awards, have entered before and not won, or don't know if this is the right award for you. I will give you clarity on what the competition looks for in a winner and help you decide whether you fit the bill this year. Click below to sign up. ⬇️ Please note *Recordings will not be shared for this event* you will need to attend to benefit from this experience https://lnkd.in/eHGYdVWZ

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Trust is at the heart of our ability as a society to advance. Whether it's #GenerativeAI #Biometrics #Robotics the ability of companies to innovate relies on trust. Trust that companies will act responsibly. Trust among investors that innovations can be deployed without the heavy hand of regulation. Trust among consumers and citizens that the purpose is to build a better world. Looking forward to hosting a session next week at Viva Technology 2024 in Paris along with Neil Rogan Global Director of External Communications and Digital Marketing at Amadeus on how companies can strengthen their social license to operate in a world where trust seems to be a diminishing currency. #SocialLicense #Innovation #CorporateReputation #Trust 

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The last few weeks have been spent working on the sale of a lovely entrepreneurial business created by a husband and wife team that, without the assistance of anyone, created a great British business that has just been acquired by a large Swiss healthy eating company. The founders mortgaged their family home to support their business and fretted every day that their fortunes rose and fell, weighed down by the fact that their staff relied on them to make a go of things because their staff also had mortgages and families like them that depended upon the success or failure of their business. Congratulations to Ella and Matt on getting this deal away. It was a huge pleasure to work with you both as you started in the restaurant space, created a deli, rolled out restaurants, morphed into healthy eating snacks, raised and financed out growth capital and after some also dawns sold the business. This is the true entrepreneurial spirit. Have a go, put it all on the line including your house, employ people, create careers, grow a great British brand, collect VAT and PAYE funds for the government, pay corporation tax, borrow money and chase a dream. If the government hikes capital gains tax on 30 October 2024 to the same rate as income tax, then there will have been no point or reason for Matt and Ella to do this. Nor, some would argue, will there be much point in taking any business risk in Britain 2024. One thing I know is that you can’t tax your way to economic growth. You need to encourage it and if you punish risk takers, they seek growth elsewhere.

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The latest edition of the Foy&Co newsletter is dropping next week. My aim is to bring relevant and interesting events industry news and opportunities to your inbox, plus offer support where possible. DM me if you want to be included in our upcoming mailer. Don't worry, we wont flood your inbox! #Newsletter #Events #Growth

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Thank you, Ruth Hogan, for the feature in the April edition of HM Magazine alongside Anthony Stanley. If you're in the mood for some light reading, I share my thoughts on commercial leadership mitigating the silo operating models of the past, operational excellence and revenue, balancing the value delivered by both remote work and onsite presence and the importance for operators to truly understand the functionality behind the tech they invest in, especially in relation to price recommendations. Also discussed is what makes a standout RM professional, and the need for savvy operators and owners seeking complete asset optimisation to recognise and value the transferrable skill set of top RM professionals into broader operations and commercial leadership roles. ARMA - Australian Revenue Management Association #revenuemanagement #revenueoptimisation #datadrivenresults #commercialleadership #operationalexcellence #remotework #standouttalent #understandtechnology #transferableskills https://lnkd.in/gCajdrxE

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I founded Calder & Co with the aim of bridging the gap between bespoke, personalised concierge services for private individuals and client membership programmes for luxury brands. Through our travel and concierge services, we enable our partners to create deeper brand connections with their clients. Instead of having, say, one or two touchpoints per year with top clients, we can ensure they are engaging regularly with brands as an integral part of their lifestyle and, in particular, when they’re having fun 😎 By partnering with us, you can: - cement relationships, increase brand loyalty and ultimately drive sales from your existing client base. In today’s market, retaining clients is critical but time-consuming. We make time to understand and engage with your existing clients, upselling your services where possible;    - win new business by offering a tailored and boutique luxury concierge service as a valuable add-on to your products or services. In a crowded market, we can help you stand out from the crowd;    - keep clients engaged with your brand when on a waitlist for a new product or during quiet times in your business; and    - surprise and delight your clients with experiences and benefits that mean something to them personally and elevate your brand in their eyes.

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Fast-paced and lively dynamic interviews from my wonderful experts. Get some great nuggets of wisdom in just 25 minutes

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📰 CLIENT OPINION PIECE 📰 Could this be the pivotal moment tourism’s been waiting for? Thoughts from Marc Crothall MBE The Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) ‘The new UK Labour government’s manifesto is all about change as we know, with references to ‘turning the page’, ‘rebuilding our country’ and ‘kick-starting economic growth’. Over the past few years (and indeed in many that came before), hospitality businesses have contended with vastly increased operational costs, reduced income due to the cost of living crisis, a skills gap, recruitment and housing crises, transport infrastructure issues and continued increases in taxation across a raft of new and existing policies. Change in my view, as CEO of the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) the overarching representative body for Scotland’s tourism and hospitality industry, brings with it expectation and opportunity, but is this the pivotal moment that one of Scotland’s most important sectors has been waiting for?’ Read in full 👇🏼

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