Umbrella promote from within to position of commercial director.
Jenni Clarke has been promoted to the role of commercial director at Umbrella Training, having previously held the role of head of curriculum and learning technologies.
Clarke has been with the business since June 2022, working within the commercial arm of the company and leading the development of its programme offering and curriculum to include immersive learning environments.
As commercial director, Clarke will be heading up the promotion and expansion of the company’s commercial and apprenticeship training activity to align with the needs of the ever-changing needs of the hospitality industry.
She will also retain managing the design intent and implementation of immersive learning environments into Umbrella’s apprenticeship and commercial curriculum – the first of its kind in hospitality education.
Umbrella chief executive and founder, Adele Oxberry said of the promotion: “Jenni may have only been with us for a year, but during that time she has continually demonstrated her commitment to people, learning and development.
“We felt an expanded role would enable her to achieve even more success and develop her own skills and we’re delighted to be promoting Jenni to see what new ideas and initiatives she can bring to the commercial director role.”
Clarke said: “I’m so excited to be taking on this new role with Umbrella and build on my work from the last year.
“Adele and I have always shared an incredibly dedicated passion for the industry and to be able to now be in the position to help expand Umbrella’s training offering in line with our business partners and industry, really is an honour.”
Clarke started her hospitality career while still at school through a work experience placement with The Holybourne Hotels group, spending time developing her knowledge and skills of each hotel department.
At 17, her first role was as a room attendant at Farnham House hotel in Surrey. She climbed the ranks to manage the entire housekeeping department and was awarded HTP Apprentice of the Year 2011.
That same year, she joined the opening team at the Radisson Edwardian Guildford as assistant front office manager, and subsequently became a sales and events executive with Handpicked Hotels. This was followed by a promotion to regional sales manager, a role in which she increased corporate and conference revenue year on year by 10%.
Passionate about people, within three months of joining the pre-opening team of London’s Bankside hotel in 2018, due to her commitment and strong previous operational experience, she was promoted to People and Development Officer.
Her commitment to the development of the business and their people during the pandemic, lead to further promotion to people and development manager, eventually expanding her role to oversee the learning and development at both Bankside and its St Ermin’s sister hotel.
