Sep 2024 – Present · 1 yr 6 mos · London Area, United Kingdom

• Verbaflo.ai is changing operational real estate forever.
• We have simplified AI to empower PBSA, BTR and Coliving operators to increase sales, automate operations, enhance resident experiences and streamline management. But what does that really mean?
• As Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer it's my role to translate an incredible piece of technology into real world, tried and tested use-cases that help operators to communicate with residents over the phone, whatsapp, webchat/livechat, SMS, e-mail and WeChat.
• This is conversational AI that talks to your residents where, and how they want.
• These use cases have been tried and tested with hundreds of thousands of enquiries and we'd love to demo it to you so you can join the PBSA/BTR and Coliving operators who have joined us to bring AI to their operations.
• We know how your business can use AI for:
• Out of hours sales call centre.
• Lead qualification and management
• Resident booking support
• Scheduling viewings online and in person
• Rebooking campaigns
• Rent collection and payment reminders
• Arrears chasing
• Survey and feedback collection
• Upsell opportunities
• Emergency notifications
• Event registration
• Data collection
• Automated tenant screening
• Move in and move out coordination
• Community management and announcements
• Automated virtual tours
• Promotions and marketing
• Maintenance requests and scheduling
• and over 20 more examples of how you can use AI to save time, effort and money...
• dan.smith@verbaflo.ai

Feb 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 1 mo · Hybrid

• I co-host Housed - The Shared Living Podcast with Sarah Canning and Deenie Lee. Housed is a weekly podcast for the operational real estate sector covering the latest news, views and features from student accommodation, Build to Rent, Coliving and Later Living. If you'd like to sponsor a series or an episode then get in touch.

Apr 2021 – Oct 2024 · 3 yrs 6 mos · London, England, United Kingdom

• Student Housing Consultancy Ltd is... the leading consultancy for the student housing industry.
• We work with developers, operators, investors, universities and industry partners to help them navigate the challenges in the student accommodation sector. With experience in development & design, mobilisation, asset management, investment, operations, sales & marketing, IT & systems, ESG and more, we have developed, acquired, managed or exited over 250 student housing assets worldwide.
• We work with:
• Investors
• Acquisitions advisory
• ESG & Sustainability consulting
• Operator/Management tenders
• Procurement analysis and recommendations
• Asset management, Operator Oversight
• Operators
• Business Development & Strategy
• Investor relations management
• International marketing strategy - India, China
• Sales & Marketing review
• Marketplace & agent management
• IT & systems review
• ESG & Sustainability strategy
• Developers
• Feasibility studies
• ESG & Sustainability
• Operator tender process
• Universities
• Nominations agreements
• ESG & Sustainability strategy
• Industry partners
• Business development

Apr 2021 – Jul 2022 · 1 yr 3 mos · London, England, United Kingdom · Hybrid

• Dorms.com is changing the way young people stay, study and work. The world’s leading hostel booking services booking over 1 million bed nights a year.
• A contract role overseeing partnerships and development into strategic target areas.
• Things you should know about Dorms.com
• #1 hostel booking platform in Europe.
• Big in North America & Europe
• Network of international agents and partners
• Present in over 950 cities
• 2 million beds online

Apr 2019 – Present · 6 yrs 11 mos · Reading, England, United Kingdom

• Helping business make sense of Net Zero, ESG, CSR & Sustainability.
• Good Management is a strategic ESG, CSR & Sustainability Consultancy. We help our clients to understand, manage and communicate their social and environmental impacts.
• ESG, CSR, Sustainability, Net Zero, Carbon Neutral, whatever you call it, we call it Good Management and we can help your organisation do good, better.
• In practice, this means:
• ESG Reviews and Gap Analysis
• Net Zero Strategies
• Carbon Footprint Measurement and Reduction
• ESG & Sustainability Strategies
• Policies
• ESG & Sustainability Report Writing
• ESG Data Management and Systems
• Sustainability Certifications - BREEAM, Fitwel, ISO, B-Corp, Ecovadis & more.
• ESG & Sustainability Training
• Outsourcing and Project Management
• Our experienced sustainability consultants have worked with clients large and small from completing a full review and ESG strategy for a £22billion global commercial real estate behemoth, to writing a CSR policy for a boutique digital marketing agency and everything in between.
• Our clients now span Real Estate, Construction, Education, Finance, Tech, Startups, Professional Services, Professional Sport, Travel & Transport, Retail, Manufacturing and more. We work with many of our clients on a confidential basis so we can’t shout about the impactful work we’re doing with them on their ESG & Sustainability strategies (We don’t mind not taking the credit, we’re here for the positive impacts).
• A handful of the clients we can talk about are American Golf, Bidwells, Argent, University of London, BNY Mellon, The Boat Race, Unily, Re:Signal, Official Rugby Lions Tour Operator - MSG Tours, Wigan Warriors and many more. You’ll see some case studies coming soon to the website.

Apr 2019 – Apr 2021 · 2 yrs · London, United Kingdom · Hybrid

• Built and led a global business development team across UK, US, Australia, and India.
• Implemented a targeted supply acquisition strategy resulting in a significant uplift in bookings.
• Onboarded over 500,000 beds in North America and managed 260 key accounts globally.

Jun 2016 – Apr 2019 · 2 yrs 10 mos · London, United Kingdom

• I was appointed Managing Director to oversee the development of The Nido Collection student accommodation and co-living operator within the UK & Ireland. I built a high-performing team and developed operational management strategies to optimise operations and maximise asset value. I steered Nido through unprecedented growth with acquisitions of £450m+ in the UK and assisted with £600m+ acquisitions and developments in Europe (Portugal, Germany, Spain, Netherlands), whilst improving NOI and establishing a scalable international operating platform for all verticals.
• Responsibilities & Achievements
• Corporate and operational strategy
• Investor relations and fundraising support
• Management, recruitment and leadership development - 8 to 120+ staff in 18 months.
• Operational lead on acquisition of PBSA beds with book value of circa £1billion.
• Board and investor liaison.
• Brand review and repositioning.
• CSR, ESG & sustainability project management.
• Contract negotiation and execution – partners, supplier, investor, developer, client.
• Sales, marketing & operational strategy
• Asset management strategies – cap-ex projects, positioning, disposal.
• IT & systems review - new app, website, PMS, CRM, Finance, H&S, comms.
• Rapid expansion from 347 to 8,000+ beds
• Launched 3rd party management division
• National and International Awards

Sep 2015 – Jun 2016 · 9 mos · London, United Kingdom

• I was approached by Round Hill Capital to lead the sales, marketing and events teams for the Nido Collection, an ambitious luxury student accomodation provider in its second investment cycle following a £600,000,000 acquisition in 2015.
• Responsibilities
• Re-structure, recruit and manage the sales, marketing and events teams.
• Comprehensive marketing review and strategy.
• Macro and micro team planning.
• Investor presentations and cap-ex pitches for current and potential assets.
• Business development through University partnerships, agency and consolidator relationships.
• Departmental budget responsibility and shared overall P&L management.
• International portfolio development through asset analysis and required modelling.
• Achievements
• 100% occupancy & revenue targets achieved with industry leading YOY rental increase.
• Exceeded revenue target through exclusive yield management model.

Aug 2013 – Sep 2015 · 2 yrs 1 mo · London and Hampshire

• I was head-hunted for a founding senior management role at the new distillery and visitor experience for Bombay Sapphire Gin on behalf of brand-owner, Bacardi ltd. Historic Laverstoke Mill has been transformed into a multi-million pound distillery and visitor experience for Bombay Sapphire, the world’s number one premium gin.
• Responsibilities
• Marketing strategy and execution - ATL & BTL.
• Sales and commercial strategy – experiential, upsells, events, retail, e-commerce, gifting.
• Digital marketing including:
• Web design, SEO, CMS, CRM, social media, asset creation, mobile, app, EPOS, insights, ROI.
• A&P management - brand awareness and call to action.
• Overall lead on planning and execution of extraordinary opening events
• PR & Media relations campaigns – Highly successful global and domestic media launch..
• Creation of Messaging House, brand content, scripts, tone of voice, FAQ’s, BVI, guardianship.
• Agency management - Events, creative, digital, PR, sales.
• Project management.
• Recruited a multi-discipline and high-performing team.
• Events business - Start-up to growth, processes, sales, marketing and team management.
• Travel planning and event management
• Achievements
• Winner – Best Launch, at the 2015 ISC international spirits marketing awards.
• Highly-commended digital and social media campaign by Drinks Business Magazine.
• Winner - Best Small Visitor Attraction at the Beautiful South Awards 2015.
• Winner - Best visitor centre in the drinks industry by Drinks Business Magazine 2015.
• Online gifting revenue over £100k in Dec 2014. Affiliate partner revenue of £110k in July 15.
• Outstanding media exposure throughout UK and global mainstream media.
• Consistently exceeded sales targets for experiences, upsells and events.
• Pioneering digital integration of EPOS, CRM, web and insights system adopted by portfolio.

Jan 2012 – Jul 2013 · 1 yr 6 mos · Nottingham, United Kingdom

• The UK’s largest independent school tour operator, Halsbury Travel acquired Tours 4 ltd in January 2012. Following a successful transition of staff, clients and systems, my role involved overall management and development of Tours 4 Sport, the new sports tours division of Halsbury travel. With the acquisition came significant benefits and further investment in bonding to allow us to access more schools and cross-selling with the other tour divisions at Halsbury. As a result the sports division grew 32% to a turnover of £1,700,000 at 24% GP in 2013 benefitting from cross-selling and economies of scale.
• Responsibilities
• Oversaw acquisition and implemented a successful transition for all staff and clients.
• Reporting to MD and board - Overall responsibility for performance of sports tours division.
• Devised a new coaching tours brand and recruited key staff (Pro-Ex Sports Tours)
• Initiated switch in product focus including new products, destinations and lead targeting.
• Recruitment and management of new sales and operations staff.
• Redeveloped database-driven website.
• Initiated a switch to digital for the marketing dept - CRM and social media campaigns.
• Identifying and implementing commercial opportunities and partnerships.
• Developed a unique white label inbound tours product for international travel agents.
• Achievements
• Seamless financial and legal acquisition process.
• Increased Tours 4 Sport turnover by 32% to £1,200,000 in 2013
• Pro-Ex Sports Tours - £500,000 turnover in 2013.
• Individual tour sales of £405,000.
• Oversaw increase of 9% in GP since Jan 2012.

Oct 2005 – Jan 2012 · 6 yrs 3 mos · Oxford, United Kingdom

• Upon graduation from Loughborough University I co-founded Tours 4 ltd, a group tour operator specialising in sports tours for amateur and professional clubs, schools and universities. Our sales and operations staff organised group tours for thousands of passengers for the UK inbound and outbound market working both B2B and B2C. Following 6 years of growth we were approached by Halsbury Travel with a view to acquiring Tours 4 ltd. The acquisition in January 2012 allowed me to realise the value in the company I had founded and incentivised me to continue accelerating growth.
• Responsibilities
• Full P&L responsibility as Managing Director.
• Compliance, insurance and bonding.
• Created a scalable brand, BVI and highly-effective marketing from scratch.
• Successful launch and rapid growth in an extremely competitive market.
• Developed a full range of travel packages and niches, B2C (outbound) and B2B (inbound).
• Marketing strategy and management - focus on digital:
• PR, PPC, SEO and web design, ATL & BTL, distribution, partnerships and fam trips.
• Designed and maintained the company websites (top-ranked sports tour websites worldwide).
• Created an engaging, industry-leading social network platform across multiple channels.
• Regular business and market analysis to focus ROI.
• Employee recruitment, development and training.
• Sales management and target-setting.
• Commissioned tailor-made CRM and operations software.
• Achievements
• Secured funding from HSBC and grant from Businesslink prior to trading.
• Top ranked sports tour website worldwide for all key search terms through SEO strategy.
• Growth from £89,000 TO in 2006 to £1,700,000 in 2013
• Finalist at the British Travel Awards as the ‘Best UK Sports Tour Operator’ in 2010 and 2011.
• Finalist at Shell National Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
• Clients included national sports federations, professional sports teams and elite schools.