Inspirational Woman: Simone Clark | Senior Vice President of Global Supply, Iglu

Simone Clark

For fifteen years Simone has remained an integral member of Iglu’s management team; from Marketing Manager to Managing Director she has lent her skills to several areas of the business.

Simone’s extensive knowledge and first-hand experience of the cruise industry now places her at the forefront of Iglu’s international relations as Senior Vice President of Global Supply.

Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role

I grew up in the Yorkshire coast and moved to London when I was 18 as a literature and philosophy student.  After graduating, I worked three seasons in France and then got a junior role at Crystal holidays, selling ski and villa holidays.  I worked there for eight years, with my final role there being Head of product for Thomson & Crystal holidays Italy.  After a brief spell at First Choice holidays, I came to Iglu where I was M.D. for nearly ten years and more recently I have been promoted to SVP of Global supply, a role that involves managing all our relationships with our cruise line partners.  The role involves a lot of meetings off site, overseas and in the evenings so hours are varied, but I work along side some great people, many who have become friends over the years. We are responsible for all the commercial contracts, marketing plans and looking at any other issues or opportunities with the cruise lines.

Did you ever sit down and plan your career?

No – but looking back, I always wanted to work in the leisure industry.  I grew up in a seaside resort and always had summer jobs in hotels and restaurants. After university, I worked three seasons overseas in France – twice as a campsite courier and once in a ski resort hotel. It taught me all sorts of skills, including using my languages, digging trenches, fixing electrics, to running a whole campsite and also a hotel. Often overseas jobs give you a tremendous amount of practical experience at a young age and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. When I moved back to the UK, I started work selling holidays for Crystal holidays and was still there many years later in the product team.

Have you faced any particular challenges along the way and if so, how did you deal with them?

I had my son when I was 40 and the M.D. of Iglu and had to come back to work early as we were in the early stages of new investment. My role includes a lot of evening events and trips abroad and I had to learn to be super organised and plan in advance to ensure that I had childcare covered. For 3 years, I had to ensure I left the office or meetings promptly so I could do the nursery pick up. I’ve had to sprint down the road on several occasions in order to get there on time.  Fortunately I get a lot of support at home from my partner and family.

If you could change one thing for women in the workplace, what would it be?

That people wouldn’t refer to us as “girls”

How do you feel about mentoring? Have you mentored anyone or are you someone’s mentee?

I was never mentored, but I was given tremendous opportunity and lots of responsibility at a young age at Crystal Holidays. The travel industry was very different then and growing at a vast pace, so if you worked hard and showed initiative there were great opportunities. However, when I look back I think I would have benefitted from closer guidance at times. I haven’t mentored anybody officially but I do make time for anyone in our business, who wants advice or suggestions on how to develop in their role and grow their career.  This may take the form of a formal meeting or just an hour away from the office and informal chat.

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

I won a personal award from at Carnival’s cruise awards last January for being such a close partner of theirs across all six of their UK brands. Iglu won four awards, but it was wonderful to get recognition like this from cruiselines as I believe that the relationships with our suppliers are paramount and my role now is to work even more closely with them, representing all areas of our business, working together for mutual success.

What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?

We have launched internationally and now sell cruises in Spain, Italy & France and we are researching where to launch next as we continue our plan of international expansion.  I really enjoy the travelling and meeting new people in different countries and understanding how they all interact.  We are hoping to emulate the same success internationally as we have had with Cruise in the UK and be recognised as a truly international cruise online travel agent.

Visa - WeAreTheCity - Pioneer 20 - nominations open
WeAreTech Festival 2024 advert

Upcoming Events

march, 2024

Job Board Banner

Related Posts