HBAA Forum to discuss procurement, confirms Botterill as speaker

The Hotel Booking Agents Association (HBAA) will be giving venue and agent members the opportunity to gain valuable insights into the procurement of business from corporate clients at its ‘Made to Measure’ Annual Forum.
 
Hosted by this year’s Chairman, Chris Parnham, the HBAA will present a panel of industry experts with previous corporate experience, poised to reveal how agents and venues engage with buyers to maximise business wins from the sector.
 
Confirmed panellists include: Paul Andrews, whose 25 years’ marketing experience has covered work within the BMW Group, CompAir, Kawasaki and Barclays Bank; Andrew Gilkerson, who is responsible for the commercial effectiveness of a group incorporating W&O Event Management and Choice Healthcare Solutions; Alison Searle, Global Sourcing Manager for Hotels and MICE at Agrega; and former Head of Events at Barclays, Sarah Wright.
 
Replacing Alison in the streamed venue member session will be Martin Searle, Senior Category Manager for Travel Services at Xchanging.
 
The association has also confirmed entrepreneur and author Nigel Botterill (pictured) as a speaker for the two-day event, taking place on 5 and 6 September at Twickenham Stadium.
 
The session, entitled ‘The Customer Experience and Me’, will see Botterill advise guests on how to implement business growth by lifting the lid on strategies used by successful companies to retain their customers, while encouraging them to increase their overall spend.
 
His knowledge of the industry comes from an extensive corporate career, where he held positions in several major organisations including Barclays, before founding and building eight separate businesses of his own, earning him a reputation as one of the most prolific and successful entrepreneurs in the UK. His first business book, The Botty Rules, was published in February 2011, and reached number two in the Sunday Telegraph best-sellers list.
   
Any conference-related news? Email sarah@mashmedia.net