Lama Barakat

o In charge of developing the high end catering and events divisions in the group
o Chosen by the group to be an Executive Member at Power International Holding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Steering Committee established in December 2021 responsible to drive change and foster an environment of inclusion, diversity, and fairness across PIH and all its subsidiaries.
o Fully responsible for the P&L of 220M QAR yearly with a focus on profitable growth.
o Lead the Construction and fit out of the Business premises located at the Equestrian Club in Doha, Qatar.
o Introduced and established the high-end gourmet catering company in Aura Group named Aura Gourmet.
o Lead the foundation and process of 3 JV companies within the group under the catering and events division.
o Management of the finances of the Business, including but not limited to monitoring the financial status, financial reports and statements, profit & loss, and payments.
o Provide visible leadership to the division and across the organization to key stakeholders.
o Supervision and management of Quality, Safety, Health, and Environment in relation to the Business.
o Manage the day-to-day operations and ensure service delivery is of a high quality with an emphasis on standards.
o Prepare and review the allocation of operational budgets to meet the requirements of the contract on both revenue and capital costs.
o Ensure that all financial targets and KPI’s are achieved within a framework of absolute financial control with Risks and Opportunities actioned and reported on a monthly frequency.
o Develop and manage a professional client retention and communication strategy, attending meetings with the Trust as required.

Manage a team of 15 direct report professionals with over than 3, 000 indirect reports.
Provide operational leadership, guidance and mentoring to all the unit managers.
Fully responsible for the P&L of 450M AED yearly with a focus on profitable growth.
Optimize sites processes to ensure high team performance.
Determine areas of improvement for cost control and implement changes.
Achieve operational compliance to Compass group, ADNH compass and client HSEQ standards

o Worked closely with the COO and oversee all the business subsidiaries in the UAE.
o Lead the country team (374 members) and fully responsible for the P&L of 250 M AED with a focus on profitable growth.
o Possessed experience in outsourced services, commercial catering, cleaning, and facilities management sectors and carried a proven track-record of leading, managing and growing an organization in a complex matrix, multi-cultural organization.
o Increased market share by ensuring total client satisfaction and encouraging referrals

o Member of the Executive management team and reported and worked with CEO and Vice President Commercial & Outlets to determine appropriate contracts and commercial strategies in UAE and GCC markets.
o Supported strategy and business consulting in the region and assisting clients overcome strategic challenges related to long term sustainability and competitiveness.
o Managed and handled Bid and RFP activities. Reviewed, interpreted, and analyzed contract and service agreements to ensure the terms comply with legal, guidelines, contracting principles, cost constraints as well as with corporate and client procedures.
o Set plans and conducted workshops and meetings with concerned stakeholders for a successful, on-budget and on-time delivery of any project.
o Fully responsible for the P&L of 650M AED plus yearly with a focus on profitable growth
o Successfully established a new branch and company start up for Royal Catering in Riyadh and executed the work until fully operation started.
o Successfully managed the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula one event for 4 years and succeed to provide a massive catering for 50, 000 people per day.

o Reported to the Director of Sales & Marketing to identify sales and marketing strategies in the UAE and the international market segments towards maximizing the hotel’s revenues.
o Lead and managed all day-to-day sales activities with a focus on building long-term, value-based customer relationships that enable achievement of property sales objectives.
o Provided positive and constructive leadership to ensure maximum revenue potential.
o Attended industry conferences and trade show to maintain knowledge and network.

o Reported to the Hotel General Manager and worked closely with the Vice President of Sales & Marketing MENA region to determine annual gross profit plans. Promoted the hotel at industry and trade conferences in London, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi and Kuwait.
o Lead and effectively managed the sales, marketing and commercial team by establishing sales objectives, developing annual sales quotas for regions and territories; projecting expected sales volume and profit for existing and new clients

o Reported to the Regional Director of Sales and to the Vice President of Sales & Marketing MENA to set the rate structures, budget process and selling strategies.
o Successfully lead 35 corporate sales team members and managed the pre-opening strategies and plans for new hotels in the group (Khalidiya Rotana - Park Rotana - YAS Island Rotana - Hala Arjaan and Hili Rotana).
o Ensured through and complete coverage of corporate sales team for a comprehensive client servicing, account management, achieving targets and maximum productivity.
o Evaluated employee performance, set goals, and developed improvement plans.