Elaine Winchester
Radley,UK
Summary
I am an experienced and energetic sales professional with 18+ years’ experience driving business development and revenue growth across multiple sectors, including Travel, Technology, Life Sciences and Manufacturing (Aerospace, Defence & Space, Automotive & Marine) for a mixture of Blue Chip entities and Start-ups. I have a proven track record of building high-yielding opportunities with key clients and delivering strong revenue growth. I am organised, driven and personable with a growth mindset. I am now looking for a new opportunity to get my teeth into and, of course, to continue learning.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
4
4
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Sales Director
Plyable Ltd
Oxford, UK
10.2022 - 02.2025
- Further to Plyable’s Series A investment round of $3.2M, promoted to Sales Director, recognising expanded responsibilities and contribution to Plyable’s growth
- This leadership role was focussed on delivering the next phase of the companies growth, overseeing strategy and team development
- Sourced and onboarded Tier 1 and Prime Aerospace, Defence & Space, Marine and Automotive entities as clients and built a receptive client base in the UK, Europe and the USA
- Spearheading business growth strategies, driving revenue from £500k to £5m+, positioning Plyable as the leader in AI driver composite manufacturing solutions to a predominantly US customer base
- Reporting and presenting sales data and analysis at quarterly board meetings to chairman and VC stakeholders
- Focusing on margin maximization from 25% to an average of 40% across key programs and delivered our best evert July and August trading periods in our history so far
- Managed a small team including a technical pre-sales exec and an external marketing manager
- Preparing quotes and commercial structure around key business opportunities
- Processing and reviewing PO’s and legal documents
- Managing a live pipeline worth £4-5m rolling monthly
- Playing a key role in developing and expanding Plyable’s AI powered platform, enabling automation in composite tooling design and manufacturing, significantly reducing lead times and costs while maintaining quality standards
- Developing Plyable’s presence across key industries, particularly, aerospace by cultivating high-value client relationships and securing major accounts
- On-boarding Plyable’s most valuable enterprise clients
- Representing Plyable at international industry events like CAMX and Farnborough Airshow, showcasing innovations at the ‘coal face’ with new clients and prospects
- Championing cross-functional collaboration between engineering, marketing, and sales teams to align technical capabilities with market needs, driving clients adoption and satisfaction
- Writing complex bids and applications for DBT trade missions and industry award submissions
- Contributing to diversity and inclusion initiatives within the aerospace sector, presenting at key panels along side industry bodies like Aerospace Xelerated
- Developed sales Playbook and created and documents sales process for Plyable
Business Development Manager
Plyable
, UK
09.2019 - 10.2022
- Introed into this role by my previous CEO at QinetiQ and UserReplay
- I was exciting by the challenge of a new sector and the disruption the Plyable technology was causing in the marketplace
- My role was focussed on building the foundation for sales to grow from
- Defining the sales strategy for Plyable in terms of key sectors and customer targets
- Cold-calling sales prospects
- Key account management of existing clients
- Attending key industry conferences and trade shows representing Plyable
- Maturing sales function and processes within Plyable as first dedicated sales team member
- Onboarding company CRM (Hubspot) and setting-up first sales pipeline for the business
- Consistently achieved and surpassed revenue targets
Business Development Manager
Aigenpulse
Didcot
05.2019 - 09.2019
- Producing quotes and deal structures for the first business POC trials
- Building an outreach strategy to target key prospects
- Developed Sales Playbook for business
- Take part in internal meetings with product team to ensure the sales function was fully up to date with new developments
- Attending customer conferences and calls
- Taking part in calls with would be venture funding partners
Client Engagement Executive
Aigenpulse
Didcot
07.2018 - 05.2019
- Developed key accounts target lists for client engagement team
- Booked first ever customer meetings with large biotech organisations to demonstrate the novel flow cytometry data analysis platform
- Worked with product team to develop collateral and a sales demo to present to prospects
- Onboarded Salesforce CRM into the business
- Coordinated customer user group events at Aigenpulse HQ
Business Development & Marketing Executive
UserReplay
Reading, UK
06.2013 - 07.2018
- Cold-calling prospects
- Researching prospective clients and market segments
- Building out my network with key industry leaders
- Coordinated face to face meetings
- Account management of existing clients
- Bespoke marketing campaign design
- Case study and blog writing
- Consistently achieved and surpassed revenue targets
Business Development Executive
QinetiQ : Commerce Decisions
Oxford
04.2009 - 01.2013
- Cold calling prospects
- Researching prospective clients and market segments
- Delivering online web demonstrations
- Campaign/case study writing
- PO processing
- Attending conferences
- Coordinating user group events
Account Manager
Carnival UK
Southampton, UK
04.2007 - 04.2009
- Managing a budget of over £250k
- Designing and conducting training to agents selling the Carnival UK brands
- Relationship management
- Representing the company at industry events
- Management of a Sales Admin Assistant
- Performance/ROI analysis
- Planning and conducting quarterly account meetings
Sales Executive & Business Network Coordinator
Travel Division
Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire
05.2004 - 03.2007
Education
BA (Hons) - Tourism, Business Studies & Sustainability
University of Abertay
Dundee 09.2001 - 06.2005
Skills
- Business Development
- Account Management
- Sales Management
- Lead qualification
- Margin retention
- Contract negotiation
- New account development
- Sales funnel management
- Revenue growth strategies
- Sales reporting
- Team Management
- Composites understanding
- Tooling and fixtures knowledge
- Manufacturing processes knowledge
- HubSpot/Salesforce CRM
- Microsoft office and Google platforms
Affiliations
- Spending time with my family
- Travelling whenever I can
- Latin dancing
- Music
Timeline
Sales Director
Plyable Ltd
10.2022 - 02.2025
Business Development Manager
Plyable
09.2019 - 10.2022
Business Development Manager
Aigenpulse
05.2019 - 09.2019
Client Engagement Executive
Aigenpulse
07.2018 - 05.2019
Business Development & Marketing Executive
UserReplay
06.2013 - 07.2018
Business Development Executive
QinetiQ : Commerce Decisions
04.2009 - 01.2013
Account Manager
Carnival UK
04.2007 - 04.2009
Sales Executive & Business Network Coordinator
Travel Division
05.2004 - 03.2007
BA (Hons) - Tourism, Business Studies & Sustainability
University of Abertay
09.2001 - 06.2005
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