GET TO KNOW THE TEAM BEHIND SILVERSTONE

Today we speak to Helen Pinkney who is Business Development Manager at Silverstone and responsible for driving new business leads into the venue.

So Helen, tell us a little bit about yourself and how your career led you to Silverstone?

It was inevitable that I would end up at Silverstone as my whole family are petrol heads and have a love for motorsport.

From the age of two my family would take me to watch my uncle compete in races. He ended up competing in British Touring Cars with his race partner Jonny Herbert.

I naturally developed a passion for motorsport and loved the atmosphere of being at large outdoor events so, when I was at college, I worked at Silverstone with a few different hospitality agencies on a series of public races such as Formula One which were so thrilling to work on.

After taking on different roles within sales, I joined Millbrook Proving Ground and was their Business Development Manager for nearly four years.

I was then head hunted by Silverstone in 2015 and, although I loved working at Millbrook, I was ready for a new challenge.  Six years on and I still love the buzz of Silverstone.

What does a normal day look like for you?

My two-year-old is usually my alarm clock and wakes me up around 6.30am. I tend to spend a few hours catching up on existing meeting enquiries before reaching out to agents or corporate event planners who might be interested in hosting their next event at Silverstone.

We’re currently hybrid working so when I am onsite, I’m generally showing prospective clients around The Wing.   After work, my evenings are not that exciting, bath time, bedtime with Harrison before clicking through Netflix to unwind. I love watching new series, the Drive to Survive F1 is a must see.

What makes Silverstone such a unique event venue?

I just love the way in which the whole team pulls together to put the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.  It’s one of the largest sporting events in the UK and receives outstanding customer satisfaction every year.

The meetings sector is really starting to recover from the last 18 months.  Have the needs of organisers changed much since the pandemic?

The majority of meeting and event enquiries are for team building/corporate drive bookings now as oppose to large scale exhibitions which we used to run a lot.

The few exhibitions we have run already have been absolutely electric and really well attended, so we’re confident more exhibitions will return soon.

What motivates you at work?

Strangely the noise of the cars around the track is really motivating.  But ultimately I love meeting new clients and watching those same clients enjoy the event that we’ve spent weeks organising with them.

Silverstone is the home of British motorsport - if you were a sports car what would you be and why?

I do love my cars so very difficult to choose one, the Porsche Taycan is up there, however if I had to choose one car it would have to be a good old classic Lamborghini Diablo, as my son never stops talking about them!

If organisers are looking to try Silverstone for a meeting venue for the first time, what’s your best bit of advice?

Do it, your team or delegates are bound to have a memorable day. Whether it’s a small meeting or a large conference you are likely to see something interesting flying around the circuit and it’s not every day you can attend a meeting and stand on the British Grand Prix podium afterwards to take photos of your team as a memento.