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Paul Williams CURRICULUM VITAE Paul Williams Married Villa 6 Maingard Estate 3 children Black Rock Road Born: 02/11/68 Durban, South Africa Tamarin - Mauritius Full driving licence Tel: +230 (0)5498 3680 Nationality: British Email: [email protected] PROFILE A highly articulate and enthusiastic Senior Manager with several years experience of managing multi-unit businesses, and all aspects of visitor attractions including, retail, food & beverage and building profit growth. A natural ability to manage and develop senior teams for career progression and business stability. Combined track record of operational excellence with proven ability to take a strategic overview of the business, resulting in continued business expansion. Highly experienced in new site set ups working within different brands and parameters. Seamlessly integrated in the local business, political and cultural communities creating a high profile network of working partners. EXPERIENCE 2013 – Current Medine Ltd* Casela World of Adventure Managing Director - Director Casela Ltd Project managed, design and implementation of 10M Euro upgrade of Casela Park. Opened on time and under budget. Successfully rebranded and launched Casela World of Adventures achieving a visitor growth in excess of 60% and becoming the number one paid visitor attraction in the region. Achieved a healthy EBITDA margin of 35% ongoing. Restructured and introduced new procedures in HR, Health and Safety and operations reducing staff turnover and work accidents. Introduced customer surveys and mystery shoppers to monitor visitor satisfaction and other KPI’s. Oversaw and project managed the transport of 80 African game via air-freight Responsible for the building, design and operation of a world class sports facility (6M Euros) and canteen producing 2500 dishes daily. Restructured centralised services, such as Marketing, HR and Accounts to seamless integrate all business poles with maximum efficiency. *Medine Limited is listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius with a market capitalisation of MUR 10 billion (Euro 244 million), owns over 6% of land in Mauritius (west coast) and stands among the top 75 Mauritian companies. Total staff of 1500. Casela World of Adventures started in 1979 and currently welcomes over 500K visitors per annum. Total staff of 450. CWA is one of the key business components of its management company Medine Ltd providing 25% of the group’s total EBITDA performance. 2010 – 2012 Merlin Entertainments Group* Madame Tussauds Bangkok General Manager and Director Thailand Successfully launched Madame Tussauds in December 2010. Created and implemented a comprehensive marketing plan. Through staff training and product maintenance customer satisfaction levels are consistently over 90% week on week. Have achieved a 15% increase on budgeted secondary spends. Successfully integrated cross selling tickets with recently acquired Siam Ocean World. Secured more than £150 000 sponsorship deals over 2 years. Managed over 400 staff and welcomed more than 1 million visitors per annum. 2009 – 2010 Merlin Entertainments Group Head of Openings – Europe Responsible for opening 4 new mid-way sites internationally. Created seamless integration operational opening plans for mid-way visitor attractions. Successfully launched Porto Sea Life, which surpassed its yearly EBITDA budget by 53% and visitors by 18%. Responsible for all operational aspects for new site launches including recruitment, marketing, IT and Health and Safety. Created close working relationships within different brands (Sea Life, Madame Tussauds, Legoland Discovery Centres) enabling each party to maximise their potential. *Merlin Entertainments is the largest European entertainments company operating in Europe and second in the world. Merlin runs 124 attractions in 25 countries across four continents and is floated on the London Stock Exchange. Total staff 22 000. 2000 – 2009 Sea Life Val d’Europe Merlin Entertainments Group General Manager Promoted from Manager Designate in 2002 after 2 years of operational success. Instrumental in building a multi-unit site, from scratch, including negotiation with all contractors and partners. Successfully launched new site, to brief, including recruitment, marketing and all operational aspects. Complete responsibility of a major multi-unit visitor attraction (aquarium) achieving over 300K visitors and in excess of 2,5M€ turnover with a total of 30 staff. Achieved EBITDA growth YOY – 25% over 4yrs. Adapted the complex and difficult French employment law to the benefit of our company. Achieved sponsorship in excess of 500K francs from Nestle and Coca Cola. Strategically repositioned the Sea Life Val d’Europe brand producing consistent visitor growth. Created marketing strategy benefiting the local French market and stabilizing the visitor mix. Introduced strong trade partners, which have grown YOY. Built a strong, well-developed management team with no attrition in over 3 years. Consistently delivered high profile capex projects in excess of 750K€ on time, budget and to brief. Successfully managed and developed 2 multi-unit visitor attractions in France and Belgium. Identified and initiated strategic company development in terms of site searches throughout France (Lyon, Montpellier, Paris, Disney) Worked closely with Chief Executive Nick Varney concerning acquisitions throughout France (Pirate Golf, Lego Land Discovery Centre). Renegotiated rental deal YOY representing an economy in excess of 80K€ for Sea Life Val d’Europe. Member of the Board of Commission for the Commercial Centre Val d’Europe. Ensured the adherence to complicated French Health and Safety laws through external Security Commission, thus guaranteeing the attraction remains open. Achieved company and national compliance through external financial audits by KMPG. Consistently delivered high levels of guest experience and satisfaction, using company measures of strong key performance indicators. 1998 Charles Wells Bombardier – Paris Assistant General Manager Introduced new stock management system resulting in reduced waste and theft by over 15%. Increased turnover by 45% YOY by introducing new pricing systems, different products and organizing heavily themed evenings for French and ex-pat clients. Repositioned the pub to better exploit the financial spending power of ex-pats and tourists. 1995-1998 CW Productions - Paris Director / Manager Successfully identified new products within the Formula 1 world and became sole distributor throughout France. Created a network of suppliers resulting in obtaining unique memorabilia pieces. Established a highly motivated sales team creating in excess of 200 clients throughout France. EDUCATION Eastbourne College - 1987 A levels in Sociology, Economics and American Studies University of Leicester - 2003 Diploma in Management Studies INTERNAL MERLIN ACCREDITATION Health and Safety Bio for Non Bio Managers Recruitment Marketing for Attractions Advanced Finance Leadership and Management OTHER Bi-lingual English French with working knowledge of Spanish Elected as a council member in local village - France Member of local tourism board - Thailand Head of Parent / Student Association for local school - France Experience of living and adapting to 4 different cultures Member of SKAL International (Thailand) .
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