Event Business Development Manager

Located close to Longford, just off the Bath Road, Thistle Heathrow is an Airport hotel which delivers a warm welcome no matter how long or short the stay. It has 264 bedrooms and 14 meeting rooms, the largest one seating up to 700 people - meaning it is also an extremely popular local wedding venue. It is the only hotel that has direct access to Heathrow Terminal 5 by POD in just 5 minutes.

At Thistle Hotels, extraordinary hospitality starts with bringing people together – and at Thistle Heathrow, we want to make every meeting, event and group experience one to remember. We’re looking for a proactive, commercially minded Event Business Development Manager to join our team at Thistle Heathrow, with a clear focus on finding new business, building valuable relationships and growing our Meetings, Events & Groups revenue.

This is a role for someone who loves getting out into the market, opening doors and turning conversations into opportunities. You’ll be based at the hotel, working closely with our Sales, Meetings & Events, Revenue and operational teams, while building relationships with businesses, agencies, event planners and partners across Heathrow and the wider market.

You’ll know what’s happening locally, understand where the opportunities are and make sure Thistle Heathrow is front of mind when clients are looking for their next meeting, event or group stay.

Your focus will be on proactive business development - identifying new opportunities, developing relationships and creating a strong pipeline of Meetings, Events & Groups business for the hotel.

• Proactively identifying and developing new Meetings, Events & Groups business for Thistle Heathrow
• Building strong relationships with local and regional businesses, corporate clients, agencies, intermediaries, event planners and other potential partners
• Creating and maintaining a targeted new business pipeline, identifying organisations and sectors with the potential to generate meaningful revenue for the hotel
• Understanding the Heathrow and wider local business landscape, identifying new developments, businesses, events and market activity that could create opportunities for the hotel
• Building meaningful relationships with key decision makers and influencers, understanding how they buy and what matters most when choosing a hotel or event venue
• Generating qualified leads and enquiries and working closely with the hotel team to ensure opportunities are followed through and converted
• Conducting proactive sales activity including client appointments, sales calls, networking, prospecting, presentations and site visits
• Showcasing the hotel to prospective clients, bringing our meeting and event spaces, bedrooms and wider guest experience to life
• Growing existing local relationships by identifying additional opportunities across meetings, events, groups, accommodation and other areas of the hotel
• Supporting client familiarisation visits, showcases, networking events and other activities designed to introduce new customers to Thistle Heathrow
• Working closely with Meetings & Events, Revenue and operational teams to ensure proposals are commercially competitive and aligned with hotel strategy
• Monitoring competitor activity and Meetings & Events trends, sharing useful market intelligence and identifying opportunities for us to stand out
• Using Salesforce consistently to record activity, manage opportunities, maintain accurate client information and provide visibility of the sales pipeline
• Providing regular updates and forecasts on sales activity, pipeline, conversion and future revenue opportunities
• Representing Thistle Heathrow at relevant local business events, networking opportunities, trade shows and industry events
• Working…