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Simon Birkenhead
Simon Birkenhead is a chief executive with 30 years experience building businesses and driving commercial success through online marketing and e-commerce. He has worked in organisations from the very largest global corporations through to early stage technology start-ups.
Educated at Cambridge University and London Business School, Simon is a former global business leader at Google, where he led teams across four continents. He has also held business leadership positions at 3M, Telefónica and Gartner. Since becoming a CEO he has run a number of global businesses out of the UK and New Zealand. He is currently Chief Executive of HQ Travel Group, the world’s most awarded travel group specialising in impact and educational travel programs, with operations in over 60 countries.
He is author of Managing People, a Penguin Business Experts series book.
Become The Manager Your Employees Want You To Be
60% of managers have never had any training on how to be effective at getting the best performance from their team. Managing People is a practical manual for any first-time manager or established supervisor who wants to succeed in their role - but isn't sure how to. My five-step framework explains the core principles and best practices every manager should adopt for their employees to be happy, productive and effective in their roles - and how to avoid the common mistakes that will demoralise their team, create stress, and destroy organisation culture. Available now as part of the Penguin Business Experts series in paperback and ebook from all major book retailers.
Book
Simon Birkenhead is Chief Executive of
HQ Travel Group is the world's most awarded travel group specialising in impact and educational travel, servicing customers from over 100 countries. It offers the world’s largest portfolio of volunteer abroad and international internship travel programs, each with a focus on driving positive social, environmental & personal transformation.
HQT operates two market leading brands:
Launched in 2007, IVHQ has been named the world's #1 rated volunteer abroad organisation in each of the last 6 years. With the world’s largest portfolio of volunteer abroad programs across 48 countries, IVHQ facilitates life-enriching travel experiences for volunteers from over 100 countries that enable them to give back to causes they care about, while exploring the amazing world around us. To date it has empowered over 140,000 volunteers to make a difference abroad. For more info, visit www.volunteerhq.org.
Launched in 2017, Intern Abroad HQ was named the #1 rated international internships provider in 2021, 2022 and 2023. It enables students and young professionals from all walks of life to advance their dream career through meaningful international work experience. With over 300 internship programs across 26 countries, Intern Abroad HQ facilitates both in-country and remote applied learning that deepens expertise, enhances cultural intelligence, and accelerates professional development. For more info, visit www.internhq.com.
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