Catherine Isted

Experience

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  Asquith Day Nurseries & Pre-schools

  Jun 2013 - Sept 2014

  Marketing Assistant

  • Worked for Asquith Nurseries two consecutive summers during my university studies.• Managed Social Media accounts. Wrote original content and scheduled posts accordingly.• Created html’s via Adobe Dreamweaver and delivered via Mail Chimp.• Utilised Google Analytics to evaluate campaigns and current SEO.

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  Huhtamaki

  Sept 2014 - Aug 2015

  Marketing Placement

  • Responsible for all areas of Marketing on the site. The FT placement was in the middle of my university degree. • Commissioned consumer market research in the North and South of England. • Lead the re-brand project in Lurgan.

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  TOPSHOP TOPMAN

  Sept 2016 - Sept 2017

  Team Leader

  • The role was undertaken to avoid being idle after my volunteering in India while searching for an appropriate job in my chosen career of marketing and business. • Analysed weekly and cumulative reports and made appropriate changes to increase sales.• Identified opportunities to grow the store’s success and motivated the team via leading and implementing strategies.

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  Smurfit Kappa

  Oct 2017 - Oct 2020

  • Controlled all marketing activity and £100,000 company marketing budget for Smurfit Kappa UK and Ireland (SK UKI) which consisted of 43 manufacturing sites.• Introduced Lead Forensics into the business and trialled the URL tracking tool for the company. Presented Lead Forensics to the sales directors, attaining their full commitment. Held monthly calls with the nominated sales point of contacts to ensure traction and sales and marketing synergy. In the initial two months 171 strong leads were identified to which we achieved £100,000 worth of sales from one lead. • Created the “Insider” a quarterly SK UKI printed newsletter by using Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. This reached approximately 3,900 members of staff. • Designed and developed bespoke websites for local manufacturing plants using Sitecore. • Pushed content on LinkedIn (205,000 followers), Twitter (13,000 followers) and Facebook (6,000 likes) and tracked engagement via each platform’s analytics.• Formed a team of Communication Ambassadors and supported their training to use Scala to post on Smurfit Kappa TV (SKTV). This was implemented across all sites in UK and Ireland. As master user of the SKTVs, I ensured key messages applicable to all sites were internally communicated across the UK and Ireland. • Represented the UK and liaised with the Global Marketing Communications Network. In control of global campaigns, ensuring their dispersal into the UK market whilst certifying the relevancy of the message to our sales objectives. Show less Role 4: Marketing & Events Co-ordinator – Amsterdam• Ensured Smurfit Kappa’s €200,000 investment to attend an eLogistics conference, “Deliver”, was a success. Consisted of updating, training and presenting to delegates who were mainly Sales Directors and Key Account Managers. Helped create the key messages for the delegates who had 240 1-1 meetings with major retailers. • Marketed the 2019 Smurfit Kappa Global Innovation Event – Created content, webpage and socialv posts. Responsible for the Web App used during the event.• Created an internal email campaign (mailing list of 1000 members of staff).Role 3: Quality co-ordinator – Dublin• Implemented Performance Packaging (change of papers used in cardboard) in Ireland - this involved creating communication for our customers and team, working closely with commercial to help calculate cost savings for our customers and providing plants with key technical knowledge. Role 2: National Project Lead – Dublin• Responsible for leading the SKI Multi-channel Marketing Campaign which targeted the SME market – within four months the campaign had generated 120 direct enquiries. Worked closely with Huskies Marketing Agency and SK Group Marketing team to ensure our key values and offerings were promoted effectively in a local, approachable manner.• Supported the internal strategic push of 1SK, which encouraged integration across SKI plants. This involved designing and delivering the message to the Sales team in Ireland (35 employees), organising workshops and ensuring effective communication to the team.• Updated CRM with leads from the campaign whilst assigning them and exported data to aid business decisions.Role 1: Sales & Marketing Executive – Belfast • Researched new business opportunities by building networks with Invest NI and utilised their licenced databases. • Created the material for a local SupplySmart email campaign in an html format and distributed via Mailchimp. Show less

  • UK & Ireland Marketing Manager

    Sept 2019 - Oct 2020

  • Graduate Management Programme

    Oct 2017 - Aug 2019
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  Family First Day Nurseries

  Feb 2021 - Aug 2021

  Head of Sales & Marketing

  • Lead a team of five employees including four Sales and Parent Liaison Advisors and one Digital Marketing Executive.• Managed nursery acquisitions from a sales and marketing perspective and ensured there is a smooth transition. The business grew rapidly from eleven nurseries to 24 nurseries.• Orchestrated monthly Open Days across the seventeen nurseries ensuring enquiries are coming through via the marketing I implemented and that the team hit targets in regards to booking nursery tours, achieving registrations on the day and that the successful Open Day trend accelerated. The most recent Open Day achieved £650,000 worth of sales. • Reported both sales and digital marketing figures for the senior management team and other heads of departments on a weekly basis.• Launched internal and external marketing campaigns to increase sales and reach our September sales budget. Campaigns include “Recommend a friend”, “Sign ‘em up September and “Don’t miss Out”.• Re-branded nurseries to fit into the Little Gardens brand. This included changing the logo and all branded materials such as signage and uniforms, adapting the current website to include the newly branded nursery, change the social media pages, update details on Google and communicate the investment into the nursery via PR, trade articles, printed material and to our existing parents through email and social media.• Worked closely with external agencies which includes graphic design, PR and Crisis Communications, and web developers to achieve smooth acquisitions and to action critical campaigns. Show less

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  Smiley Monroe Group

  Nov 2021 - Feb 2022

  Group Marketing Manager