About me
Events director working with luxury clients globally. Previously Head of Events for Soho House Group. Currently Events Director for Utopia Music. Always, founder of Rite Studios, London based event production house.
Projects
Work history
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Event DirectorUtopia Music
London, United KingdomFull Time
● Hired as part of the expansion of Europe's fastest growing start up to spearhead the development of the events and experiences programme globally to generate brand awareness and win the trust of the music industry.
● Built the events department, creating, communicating and implementing all department processes, servicing 12 business units with a range of complex products and individual marketing needs.
● Authored a global events plan for the business which is to be rolled out in 2023, covering 20 major brand activations with a projected £10 million + budget developed in line with the global marketing strategy and strategic goals of the business.
● Pioneered the sponsorship and external partnership relationship strategy, negotiating single and multi-year sponsorship and partnership agreements with a range of values from £20,000 - £5 Million.
● Delivered a range of complex event projects with budget ranging from £50,000 - £2million. Including a whole company offsite for 600 guests from 20 countries, held across 7 venues in Mallorca over 2 days.
● Developed the events team from 1 employee to 5 over a 6 month period. Alongside this, I created a training and development programme to upskill the team across all areas of event production and delivery.
● Created a system of stakeholder management that allowed clear cross-functional working relationships, approval processes and adherence to project timelines.
● Authored the events H&S processes for the business, working with external suppliers to ensure the business is compliant in each operational region and creating templates and processes for the successful and safe delivery of all event formats globally.
● Owner of all supplier and venue relationships, maintaining a network of suppliers and contractors that align with the principles of the business.
● Own and manage event agency and freelancer contracts, workloads and relationships, ensuring that projects are delivered on time, on budget and to the agreed specifications.
Head of EventsSoho House & Co
- London, United KingdomFull Time
After joining Soho House in 2017 I was promoted to Head of Experiences in 2019, to lead the development of an Experiences programme across the UK, Europe and Asia. After the pandemic hit, I was promoted again to Group Head of Creative Production, overseeing a team of 40 creatives globally. As soon as live events were reintroduced, I moved back into the role of Head of Events to return to major and experiential projects.
● Managed and delivered multiple major brand event projects such as House Festival (10,000 capacity high-end city festival), The Universal Music Brit Awards After Party, Soho House at Primavera Sound and The GQ and Land Rover Dinner at The Hay Festival, overseeing a multi-million pound yearly budget.
● Account directed VIP event client relationships, taking care of the founders most valued friends, business contacts and supporters. I delivered a range of events for these clients, from private birthday parties to weddings, overseeing every aspect from providing creative decks for tablescapes to writing event menus. I was responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of these events onsite, managing large teams in locations that were often logistically challenging and highly private. I ensured the profitability of each project, working closely with the founder to ensure we were
Jessica Sparkes jessica.r.sparkes@gmail.com 07837994240
providing value for money alongside an exemplary service. Please note that I’m under NDA for most of these clients,
but will be happy to share details of some (non-NDA) projects at the interview stage.
● Successfully creatively programmed and logistically delivered the UK, Europe and Asia Cities Without Houses (CWH)
events programme, covering over 250 events per year, leading a small team of producers and local contractors.
● Author and owner of the Soho House Events Brand Book, the blueprint for all pop up events globally. I ensured that
each event was delivered to the standard of the brand, supporting with event creative and shaping event ideas to
ensure they personified Soho House.
● Collaborated with Founder and Regional Directors to develop an event strategy to fulfill one key goal, “making
members feel good about Soho House”. Through this plan we built the wait-lists for the business, retained existing members, minimising member attrition and generating good-will with members ahead of and during the IPO process. This plan was rolled out in parts in 2021 as events re-started, with my plan now the blueprint for the businesses events operations in 2022 and beyond.
● Project managed the openings of new UK Houses (Greek Street Relaunch, Redchurch St Townhouse, White City House), managing event operations, creative and programming. As part of these projects, I also supported with the transition from the architects and builders to the operating team, working as a conduit between these parties to ensure a smooth transition to a live hospitality operation.
● Oversaw and led a team of 40 creatives during covid, delivering over 1000 pieces of content including digital events, photo stories, articles, podcasts and videos over the course of a year. I implemented a project management tool to streamline workflows, increasing productivity of the team.
● Project managed a range of Soho House commissioned shoots including Janelle Monae, Olivia Cooke, Roxanne Gay and Jodie Comer.
● Collaborated with the in-house legal and development teams to ensure all events were correctly licensed within their respective territories and that local authorities from the council to the Met police were informed and comfortable with the event plans.
● Identified and developed talent from other business areas, training them to event producer level within a short period and securing them roles within the events team.
● Supported on ad-hoc projects throughout the Covid-19 period, such as project managing the redesign of Friends Studios in Crouch End and Shoreditch.
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Skills
- Event Management
- Production/project Management
- Event Design
- Event Delivery
- Managing People
- Brand Partnership
- Sale
- Business Development
- Salesforce
Education
BA(Hons) Music, Theatre and Entertainment Management
- Liverpool, United Kingdom
First Class Hons.