Nominee Siobhan Byrne Learat CEO & Fpunder Adams & Butler Limited Category Entrepreneurs Nominator Angela Carty Executive Assistant Adams & Butler Limited
Entrepreneurs Nominator Information Salutation Ms First Name Angela Last Name Carty Title Executive Assistant Company/Organisation Adams & Butler Limited Company/Organisation Address 58 Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion Country Ireland County / Postcode A94 A034 Town Dublin Telephone +000 00 0000000 X000000 Email executive@adamsandbutler.com How did you hear about the Top 100 Awards? ●
Other
Other Facebook
Nominator’s Executive Assistant Information Executive Assistant First Name Angela Executive Assistant Last Name Carty
SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 1 OF 9
Executive Assistant E-mail executive@adamsandbutler.com Executive Assistant Telephone +000 00 0000000 X000000
Nominee Information Salutation Ms First Name Siobhan Last Name Byrne Learat First Name Phonetics Shiv-awn Last Name Phonetics Burn Leer Rat Title CEO & Fpunder Company/Organisation Adams & Butler Limited Company/Organisation Address 58 Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion Country Ireland County / Postcode A94 A034 Town Mount Merrion Telephone +000 00 0000000 X000000 Email siobhan@adamsandbutler.com Company/Organisation Website www.adamsandbutler.com How many direct reports does the Nominee have? 9 SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 2 OF 9
How many indirect reports does the Nominee have? 0 To whom does the Nominee report? (Name, Title, Company) N/A Please provide a brief overview of the Nominee’s organisation (maximum 2500 characters, approximately 350 words) Adams & Butler is a high-end provider of highly bespoke and customised travel and cultural experiences worldwide, founded by Siobhan Byrne Learat in 2003. As a part of our clients’ itineraries we can arrange insider access to politicians, the aristocracy, authors and specialists in their field in the most unique of Irish, Scottish and English settings from un-Googleable castles to hidden island retreats to grand private estates. We can do similar experiences around the world such as private dinners in iconic museums and UNESCO World Heritage sites. Our knowledge and access to local experts worldwide creates magical moments that last a life-time. Our clients come from US, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Russia, Australia, Chile, Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, New Zealand, the Arab World and to a lesser extent, France. Siobhan, the founder, speaks French, Spanish, & Arabic. We do all our itineraries and correspondence in the language of the client. Adams & Butler is a private travel designer company; a high-end provider of highly bespoke and customised travel and cultural experiences worldwide for wealthy individuals and for those who are not so wealthy but who want something different. Clients have included Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian & Kanye, Nicholas Cage, Harrison Ford, Richard Haas, Governors, Ministers, ex-Presidents and CEOS of the top Blue-Chip Companies, and very recently Uma Thurman. We recently arranged the holiday for Brazil’s top actor and top industrialist. We also designed a vacation for 24 family members of Paul Ryan (Speaker of the United States House of Representatives) which he discussed on American television, planned the vacation for Richard Haass, the US diplomat. Other clients include the CEOs & Presidents of the following companies; Disney Films, Pixel, Starbucks, PayPal, Wells Fargo, Marshalls, Discovery Channel, Kinkos, Deloitte, Citizen Bank, HBSC, etc as well as ex-US Treasury Secretaries, Head of Homeland Security, Ex-Presidents, Ministers etc. We arrange insider access to politicians, the Aristocracy, authors and specialists in their field, as part of our clients’ itineraries. We are first port of call for dignitaries visiting Ireland and we were delighted to host the Choctaw Nation in June 2017. We do everything from using the finest boutique and 5* hotels, ungoogleable castles & private stately mansions to villas and safari camps. Industry Type (Please select all relevant) ●
Travel
SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 3 OF 9
Nominee’s Executive Assistant Information Executive Assistant First Name Angela Executive Assistant Last Name Carty Executive Assistant E-mail executive@adamsandbutler.com
Nominee’s Company/Organisation Head Office Information Please check this box if the information below is the same as previously indicated ●
Please check this box if the information below is the same as previously indicated
Company/Organisation Adams & Butler Limited Address 58 Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion Country Ireland County / Postcode A94 A034 Town Mount Merrion EIRcode A94 A034
Previous Nomination Information Has the Nominee previously won an Award? No
Category Questions Business Performance Siobhan established Adams & Butler 14 years ago whilst completing her MBA at Smurfit Business School in Dublin. It is worth noting that, at the time, she was single handedly raising her four young sons and working full time! Having worked in the travel and tourism sector most of her life, she was conscious of a gap in the market between finding beautiful places for people to stay and enhancing that stay with the provision of knowledgeable driver guides, experts in the field of literature, whiskey, genealogy or indeed in whatever the guest might be interested. Siobhan felt that she could bridge what she saw as a gap by bringing these services to the guest, and it was this idea on which she based her SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 4 OF 9
business plan for her nascent business, which also served as the thesis for her MBA. When Siobhan started the business in 2003, there were three people working out of a small office. They worked hard and had fun along the way and built up an enviable collection of contacts throughout the UK and Irish tourism sector. Siobhan saw that most of her clientele, who were mainly American and Canadian, had a deep interest in the history of Ireland and the UK and that they were very interested in not only visiting beautiful castles, but also meeting the people to whom they belonged. Siobhan's earlier networking and making of contacts throughout the industry in Ireland and the UK meant that she had created a bank of such people on whom she could call on in the event that a few American tourists wanted to go to a castle and have lunch with the person who lived there. This kind of offering proved to be very popular with visitors, so she felt that if she could introduce a client to a member of the aristocracy, why not see if they could meet a whiskey making family, or an Irish story teller, or a bee keeper, or a cheese producer, or an expert on the Jews in Ireland? The company now crafts itineraries for individuals and groups on varied themes such as gourmet, genealogy, glitz & glamour, whiskey, art, gay, Jewish, architecture, golf, hiking and equestrianism. As a result of the broadening of the offerings to clients and the building up of business and contacts our export sales in 2016 were €3.4m, representing a 30% increase on 2015, so we have clearly demonstrated export market growth as a result of our marketing efforts. Impact on Irish Thinking and Culture Siobhan and her business have had a massive impact on Irish thinking and culture by making a truly authentic Ireland accessible to those who come to visit. The team of 10 highly experienced, female, consultants listen, understand and then create bespoke journeys for the clients and offer 24/7 handholding if required from start to finish. In addition, we have 1800 toll free numbers for our client’s use from Australia, USA and Canada and this is an incredibly attractive feature for them. Our knowledge and access to local experts worldwide ensures an authentic culture, travel and people experience where the guest will not only SEE, but DO, FEEL and ENGAGE. Our knowledge and access to local experts throughout Ireland create magical moments that last a life-time. Our clients come from US, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Russia, Australia, Chile, Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, New Zealand, the Arab World and to a lesser extent, France. We are first port of call for dignitaries visiting Ireland and we were delighted to host the Choctaw Nation in June 2017. Siobhan's attitude to the business and her commitment to showing visitors and authentic Ireland mean that rather than just ticking the boxes and visiting the usual tourist attractions, the clients are offered such unique options as hiking the Beara Peninsula for the day, or hiring a cruise boat on the River Shannon, and docking to have lunch on the produce of artisanal suppliers whilst taking in an Irish dancing display, or chartering a helicopter to witness a re-enactment of the plight of the victims of the Great Irish Famine. The offering of such unique experiences has definitely piqued the interest of our clients, which, as previously mentioned, has translated to a 30% increase in revenues to €3.4m in 2016. Siobhan's vision for the business and her mission to offer something out of the ordinary for visitors has resulted in Adams & Butler being the only travel designer in the country that can offer a guest the unique experience of visiting an Earl or a Lord, and lunching with him in his own SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 5 OF 9
private residence. On the flipside of such an experience, Adams & Butler were also able to introduce the members of the Choctaw Nation to residents of Pavee Point and to lunch with them and enable a dialogue comparing their different, but similar experiences. All of these offerings bring Irish culture and history to life for them. Vision and Leadership Siobhan’s immediate aim on establishing the company was affiliation with the best companies in the world, operating at the highest level in the travel industry. We achieved this in 2005 when we became members of Virtuoso (the most elite travel consortium in the world). Our international reputation was cemented in 2006 when we got our first celebrity client - Michael Jackson - who stayed with us for 18 months in Ireland. We succeeded in becoming supplier members of 4 excellent travel consortia networks, Virtuoso, Travel Leaders, Ensemble & TravellerMade, all of which are multi-billion US$ generating businesses with which we are proud and honoured to be affiliated. Siobhan's vision for the business to provide clients with a new type of product means that certain procedures and systems need to be in place. The team have a dedicated email address to which all sales enquiries are directed. Every morning there is a meeting at which any new enquiries that may have been received overnight, and on-going enquiries with which the team are dealing are discussed, ensuring that the whole team are aware of which team member is dealing with what, and the current status of those bookings. At close of business each day, the office phone number is diverted to a 24-hour after-hours number, manned by one of the Adams & Butler team on a rotational basis so that any glitches/problems/incidents that occur before, during or after our client’s visit can be dealt with in a timely manner to our clients’ great satisfaction. This is a highly appreciated feature of our service. We regularly meet on a weekly to discuss improvements in how our services may be delivered to our clients, and notes are taken at these meetings and are circulated at a later stage. We discuss things that may have upset clients during their visit and look at how we might avoid these scenarios in future. Topics range from misunderstanding the detail involved in a golf booking, miscalculated arrival/departure times due to lack of knowledge of Irish roads, inability to get used to large hired cars on small and winding Irish roads, to issues with terms and conditions offered by various suppliers. These practices serve to push us to constantly reflect on our services offering and look to make any necessary improvements as seamlessly as possible. Siobhan's vision and leadership has been further endorsed by her being voted as a A-Lister Agent for Travel + Leisure magazine for the past 2 years running. Community Service Siobhan believes that travel and tourism can play a valuable role in the protection of cultural and natural heritage for future generations to enjoy. Adams & Butler are committed to promoting sustainable tourism best practices, including environmental preservation and the well-being of local communities, in destinations that we book. As we arrange private visits and have privileged access to leading experts and members of the aristocracy, some of whom work for us as driver guides, we are constantly looking at ways to promote small local business in the areas that we operate. In Kenya, Siobhan Byrne Learat and her husband Kasao Learat – an Elder of the Samburu (Masaai) Tribe have set up the Nalepo Educational Fund to educate the children of the greater Samburu East region, to provide a bush school in the evening with dinner, for those SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 6 OF 9
whose fathers won’t allow their children to relinquish their chores of herding animals and in the morning for those too small or weak to travel 10 or 20km each day to go to school and to educate recently widowed young women so that they know there are other options for them in old age, rather than just to proliferate. The charity covers an area of Kenya inhabited by about 15,000 people. Siobhan actively promotes environmental awareness throughout our business by ensuring that all employees understand our environmental policy and conform to its standards. In addition Siobhan informs and motivates the staff and encourages them to pay an active role in committing to our environmental policy. In the interests of promoting green awareness and supporting the wider community, Siobhan suggested that Adams & Butler support a new green start-up – Ancient Permaculture – by funding them to attend networking events with us to raise their profile and to gain traction regarding awareness of it as a business venture. Siobhan and the teamcelebrate individual gestures of generosity such as one staff member’s donation of her hair to a local cancer charity for use in the production of human hair wigs for cancer patients who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Adams & Butler sponsor student sports clubs on an environmental win-win basis, eg – we agreed to renew their equipment on condition that they organise a clean-up of local beaches. An additional positive knock-on effect was that it facilitated extra sea patrols and many local children joined in with the clean-up.
Financial Data Company/Organisation Adams & Butler Limited Percentage of company owned by the Nominee 100
2016 Annual Sales 0,00 € Income After Taxes 0,00 € EBITDA^ 0,00 € Total Assets 0,00 € Total Equity 0,00 €
2015 Annual Sales 0,00 € Income After Taxes SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 7 OF 9
0,00 € EBITDA^ 0,00 € Total Assets 0,00 € Total Equity 0,00 €
2014 Annual Sales 0,00 € Income After Taxes 0,00 € EBITDA^ 0,00 € Total Assets 0,00 € Total Equity 0,00 €
Document Upload Internal Letter of Reference (one page maximum, Word Document or PDF) ●
Siobhan_Byrne_Learat-Reference-DS.docx
Senior Leadership Organisational Chart ●
AB-Org-Chart.jpg
Ownership Position Letter (one page maximum, Word Document or PDF) ●
Adams-Butler-ownership-confirmation.pdf
Nominee's Digital Headshot (High-resolution, colour image, minimum 500kb, JPEG or TIFF) ●
Siobhan-Learat-bg3961_pp.Jpg
Nominee's Biography (one page maximum, Word Document) ●
Bio-Siobhan-Byrne-Learat-of-Adams-Butler-2016-Brief.doc
SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 8 OF 9
Confirmation of Truth of Information and Release I Agree ●
I Agree
Confirmation Number 00339
SIOBHAN BYRNE LEARAT
ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE 9 OF 9