Katherine Gershon

Current

• Sales & Marketing Director at bmi

Past

• Sales & Marketing Director at Silverjet
• Launch & International Development Director at Silverjet
• Director, Multimedia Sales at Thomas Cook

• Head of Thomas Cook TV at Thomas Cook
• Head of Strategy & New Business Development at Thomas Cook
• Manager at Arthur D Little

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Education

• University of Leeds

Recommended

6 people have recommended Katherine

Connections

137 connections

Industry

Leisure, Travel & Tourism

Katherine Gershon’s Summary

An entrepreneurial leader of change, creativity and most importantly cohesive team working.

Director level experience of start-ups and turning around traditional businesses in the travel and aviation industries.

A firm believer that brands must be delivered through people as well as communications.

Katherine Gershon’s Specialties:

Above-the-line marketing, online marketing, international sales, multi-site leadership, multi-country leadership, strategy, mergers & acquisitions, website creation/development and management, call centre management

Katherine Gershon’s Experience

• Sales & Marketing Director

  bmi

  (Airlines/Aviation industry)

  June 2008 — Present (1 year 2 months)

  Responsible for UK field sales team and web sales, accounting for over 50% of the company's turnover.
  
  Lead all marketing activities - brand, above-the-line, online, email, loyalty (Diamond Club and Company Rewards), partnership revenues, PR and communications - in both UK and all international markets.
  
  Led the brand repositioning as a business airline.

• Sales & Marketing Director

  Silverjet

  (Public Company; 11-50 employees; SIL; Airlines/Aviation industry)

  July 2007 — May 2008 (11 months)

  Responsible for sales and marketing strategy and delivery across all Silverjet's markets (UK, USA and UAE).
  
  Creation and development of the Silverjet brand across online and above-the-line communications and led agency relationships.
  
  Led sales teams in 3 continents and responsible for revenue management and pricing.

• Launch & International Development Director

  Silverjet

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; SIL; Airlines/Aviation industry)

  September 2006 — July 2007 (11 months)

  Responsible for launching the airline in less than 8 months after IPO on the London Stock Exchange.
  
  Co-developed Silverjet from a name and a powerpoint presentation into an award-winning airline (11 awards in 16 months including Conde Nast Best Business Airline and Sunday Times Best Airline in the World) .
  
  Led all new route development and negotiations, including licensing and regulatory affairs.

• Director, Multimedia Sales

  Thomas Cook

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  2003 — August 2006 (3 years)

  P&L responsibility for the sales from all off-high street sales channels, including thomascook.com, call centres and Thomas Cook TV.
  
  Grew sales through new media channels from 10% of Group total sales to nearly 40%.
  
  Turnaround of thomascook.com from 13th biggest online travel site to number 3 in less than 18 months.
  
  Developed and launched Thomas Cook TV.
  
  Also a member of the UK executive team

• Head of Thomas Cook TV

  Thomas Cook

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  2001 — 2003 (2 years)

  Developed the idea for retailing holidays via TV, created the strategy and business case.
  
  Led the start-up team and succesfully launched the business.
  
  Managed the TV channel with full P&L responsibility for sales for the first 18 months of operation.

• Head of Strategy & New Business Development

  Thomas Cook

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  2000 — 2001 (1 year)

  Led strategy and development on the retail side of the business.
  
  Created strategy to reduce dependency on foreign exchange revenues and to develop new business streams (including new sales channels).
  
  Worked closely with the European integration team on post-merger synergies after Thomas Cook was acquired by Condor Neckermann in early 2001.

• Manager

  Arthur D Little

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Management Consulting industry)

  1996 — 2000 (4 years)

  Manager of the London based Travel, Tourism & Hospitality team. Led consultancy teams advising leading tour operators, airlines, cruise lines and hotel groups.
  
  Additionally led strategic advisory teams on M&A transactions, ranging from £50million - £1billion in value.

Katherine Gershon’s Education

• University of Leeds

  BA Hons , Management Studies , 1991 — 1994