Senior Client Manager
Acrohouse Properties
Total years of experience :22 years, 8 Months
I was head hunted to join Acrohouse Properties as a senior agent on a higher commission structure. I
have continued to work in the area of Downtown and DIFC to sell and rent properties.
I have over 15 direct landlords I work with to exclusively manage all of their properties and deal with
their tenants.
Whilst at Acrohouse I have written articles for publications including; Property Weekly and Gulf News.
I am still at Acrohouse Properties but wish to move back into Media.
I decided to make a career change and move into real estate from media sales.
I specialised in Downtown Burj Khalifa as this is the area I have lived in since first moving to Dubai.
I built up some fantastic relationships with property owners and my knowledge was and has remained
second to none in this extremely competitive market. I received many referrals from clients for rentals
and sales.
Representing International Print, TV, Online and Inflight magazines for businesses within the GCC.
Titles included Forbes and Forbes.com, Bloomberg, The Nikkei, E!, Euronews and BA Inflight. I would
deal with direct clients and agencies on the negotiation side. I traveled throughout the GCC and to
Milan in my role. Because of the economic downturn in the region I was made redundant from
Intermedia.
I moved over from the UK to work on Time Out Dubai magazine. In September 2009 I was promoted
internally to work on and manage VIVA; a women's monthly, glossy, fashion & beauty magazine. I
was responsible for making sure the advertising team communicates properly with editorial, their
deadlines and also closing the magazine by putting to bed all flat plans for the next issues. I would
sell onto timeoutdubai.com and deal with both clients directly and the media agencies in Dubai.
Sales: I was responsible for hitting weekly & monthly targets for both magazines. On Time Out Dubai
the monthly target would normally be $300, 000 approx (for the month). The monthly target on VIVA
was around $160, 000. As well as the main magazines, both had additional guides and supplements
which I would also sell into. Target was hit on average nine months out of 12.
Events: During my time at ITP I organised events including the VIVA DIVA beach party at Nasimi
Beach, Atlantis. I came up with the idea, pitched it to a number of people at Atlantis Hotel and then
put everything together:
* Pitching sponsors for the event (Lancaster, Solaris, Veet and more)
* Design an advert for the magazine inviting readers to rsvp to reserve their space
* Manage the guest list and ensure the smooth running on the day
* Make sure the Lancaster models were looked after
* Stuffing and managing the goody bags for the readers to take home
* Post event I had to make sure the photos ran in magazines for brand awareness and to make
sure everyone was happy.
We made $45, 000 from this event alone which only cost us $1, 000 to put on (for signage etc).
Another event I helped to organise this year was the VIVA Dubai Fashion Weekend which was a two-
day event held at the new Mirdif City Centre mall in April. My role was:
* Initial discussions with mall management
* Sourcing sponsorship from fashion and beauty brands for the catwalk shows and in-store
events
* Inviting readers to the events and managing the guestlists
* Making sure all clients were happy during the course of the two days and following up on the
success afterwards. This project made $160, 000.
I worked on three publications; The Sun, News of the World and The Times. I ran my own sections in
each of these newspapers; Mail order, Adult and Years Ahead. The job involved managing existing
clients, seeking new business and agency handling. I would be responsible for my own flat plans and
dealing with the production managers to make sure my adverts were all placed where they should be.
My weekly targets were approx £40, 000 on my own and I would hit target every week.
My role at this weekly publication was to ensure my team bought in enough revenue for the targets
set, maintain a relationship with existing customers as well as seek new business. I would sell a
number of features, sponsorship and general run of paper advertising each day as well as internet
revenue for the site www.midsussextoday.co.uk
I would often contribute to advertorials and features in the newspaper with my experience gained from
the Surrey Mirror as a Journalist. I left Johnston Press to go travelling.
I looked after a patch within the newspaper catchment area and ensured I was on top of any possible
news leads, producing high quality stories, attending court and tribunals weekly for reporting. On
many occasions I would get exclusive stories with my work in print on the front page.
Events: I was part of the team that would organise and manage the Surrey & Sussex Motor Show
every year. Duties included:
* Looking after sponsors
* Getting visitors through the gates to draw numbers
* Looking after promotional staff
* Being accountable for the entrance fees collected on the gates
* Being the main contact for the VIP guest which would come for the two day event whether
this be a television presenter, singer, actor etc and making sure they were well looked after
A Levels gained in English Language, German and Media Studies
Practical Journalism, Law, Shorthand, Public Affairs
GCSE's at grade A-C