Power 50 Publication - Flipbook - Page 14
Page 14
later. I relished every moment of that
precious time and now make a concerted
effort to uphold boundaries around daily
family rituals.
to deliver a truly fit for purpose process
management system at a time when staff
levels are low, and we have to reduce our
cost of sales.
“My children inspire me most. They
don’t see obstacles. They only see
possibilities.”
People who most inspired me:
Seeing the world through their eyes during
lockdown, when the whole outside world
wasn’t available to explore, made me
realise that sometimes less is more.
Jacqui Kavanagh
CEO, EDGE Venues and Trinity Event
Solutions
As a hotel manager by trade, Jacqui
experienced the full challenges of the
financial perspective of revenue management and how important the right pricing
is to run a successful venue and event. “In
2006 I set up Trinity Event Solutions and we
have grown very successfully on the
mantra of supporting our clients to make
informed buying decisions by investing in
our venue knowledge. In 2018, we identified
that our world was changing and that we
needed to invest more into technology as
the buyers we are dealing with needed for
more information at their fingertips than
ever before. So, EDGE Venues was born,
and we now offer a mixture of solutions to
our clients.”
Most memorable moment:
It was when unbeknown to me our team
put us forward for the best Company to
work for in the East Midlands and we won. I
felt very proud of our team and of sticking
to our values and our culture when
perhaps we could have deviated from it
for greater financial gain.
Biggest challenge:
Most definitely Covid. We had just completed our big tech build, so all our financial
resources were tied up in a technical
solution for an industry that was put on
hold indefinitely. I am proud that we
continued with both our training and our
technical development throughout Covid
All those businessmen and women who
have got declined by banks and were told
no but kept going. There are so many of
them out there, many of whom still
support smaller businesses as we come
up the road.
Caroline
Lumgair-Wiseman
Managing Director, Eventful
Caroline started her career as an event
planner in luxury hotels and venues,
delivering events for brands such as
lastminute.com and Dow Jones. She
launched her luxury events agency
Eventful in 2002, aged just 24, with a vision
to provide clients with a highly consultative venue sourcing and corporate event
planning service. After 18 years in business,
Caroline recognised the opportunity to
join forces with a strategic communications agency to be able to offer more
extensive creative services to her
established portfolio of loyal clients. A deal
was agreed with Aeorema Communications plc, which owns Cheerful Twentyfirst,
in early 2020.
Most memorable moment:
There have been many memorable
moments, but one that stands out
recently was being asked to be an
industry mentor by Fay Sharpe for her Fast
Forward 15 Events Industry Mentoring
Programme. Having respected Fay as one
of the key founders of the agency market
in the UK for many years, this felt like a
huge achievement.
Proudest professional achievement:
To see all our hard work disappear as our
client’s events in 2020/21 were cancelled
or postponed due to the pandemic was
probably the most traumatic experience
of my business career to date. Trying to
keep the team (and myself) focused,
engaged, and motivated through that
period was a monumental task, and we
are proud that by supporting each other
we were able to maintain momentum. We
have found that this difficult period has
allowed us to develop stronger bonds with
our clients, and to refine and develop our
service offering.
Person who most inspired me:
My mother, who has faced great
challenges and difficulties in her life with
courage and tenacity. She has a
successful career as a change
management consultant and is always
adapting, learning, and applying herself to
make things work on a practical level.
Helen McCabe
Managing Director
UK, BCD Meetings & Events
Having started her career in the hotel
industry, Helen joined In Business Reservations in 1991 as a conference consultant
sourcing venues in this very small agency.
Her career and experience grew in
tandem with the organisation, initially
taking a supervisory role within the venue
find team, then further adding to her
responsibilities incorporating HR, IT & Tech
and Events to secure a position on the
Zibrant board. Zibrant was bought by BCD
M&E in 2016, and Helen was promoted to
the position of MD-UK at the end of 2019.
Most memorable moment:
Representing the UK as MD at the BCD M&E
Global Leadership Meeting. Being on stage
with my peers and sharing our proudest
moments from the previous year.
Biggest challenge:
Navigating the UK business through 2020,
which involved making tough decisions
and actions to ensure that we remained fit
and strong for the future.
Proudest professional achievement:
Carving my own pathway to become
MD - UK for a Global Events organisation. I
do not have a degree – I just worked
incredibly hard to shape my own future,
but also had the benefit of working with
and for some great inspirational people.
