Stephen Spencer FRSA FTS

Stephen Spencer FRSA FTS

Oxford, England, United Kingdom
5K followers 500+ connections

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    Business Consulting, Management Consulting, Non-profit Consulting, Brand Consulting, and Marketing Consulting

About

My business journey started in the High Street at age 15 and took me to the Tower of…

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Activity

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Experience

  • Stephen Spencer + Associates Graphic

    Stephen Spencer + Associates

    Oxford/London, United Kingdom

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    London Area, United Kingdom

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    Greater Oxford Area

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    London, United Kingdom

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    London/York/Manchester

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    York, United Kingdom

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    London/Kent/York

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    London, United Kingdom

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    Essex

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    Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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    Scotland

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    Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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Education

Licenses & Certifications

Volunteer Experience

  • Abbotsford, The Home of Sir Walter Scott Graphic

    Trustee

    Abbotsford, The Home of Sir Walter Scott

    - 7 years 2 months

    Arts and Culture

    Member of the Board of the Abbotsford Trust, with a special focus on the visitor experience and associated revenues, and of the Abbotsford Trading Company.

  • ASVA: Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions Graphic

    Vice Chair

    ASVA: Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions

    - 1 year 8 months

    Arts and Culture

    Representing a key sector of the Scottish tourism economy, ASVA's Mission Statement is: ‘To support and inspire Scottish visitor attractions to deliver sustainable, world class experiences’.

    This is done through promoting best practice, sharing experiences, supporting innovation and driving change. Self-funded by way of membership subscriptions and other commercial activities, ASVA receives no public funding except when working on a specific project that is of mutual…

    Representing a key sector of the Scottish tourism economy, ASVA's Mission Statement is: ‘To support and inspire Scottish visitor attractions to deliver sustainable, world class experiences’.

    This is done through promoting best practice, sharing experiences, supporting innovation and driving change. Self-funded by way of membership subscriptions and other commercial activities, ASVA receives no public funding except when working on a specific project that is of mutual benefit.

    ASVA is a company limited by guarantee, managed by an Executive Team and a Board of Trustees.

  • Co-founder; interim Project Director

    Pride & Passion for Scotland

    - 3 years 10 months

    Arts and Culture

    Pride & Passion (P&P) was an industry-led movement funded by VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise. Facilitated by a small industry steering group and executive team, P&P was conceived by members of the Tourism Innovation Group.

    Our mission was to motivate and train Scottish tourism and hospitality businesses to transform their Customer Experience. Innovative, Customer Experience roadshows, workshops, safaris and magical Mystery Tours engaged and…

    Pride & Passion (P&P) was an industry-led movement funded by VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise. Facilitated by a small industry steering group and executive team, P&P was conceived by members of the Tourism Innovation Group.

    Our mission was to motivate and train Scottish tourism and hospitality businesses to transform their Customer Experience. Innovative, Customer Experience roadshows, workshops, safaris and magical Mystery Tours engaged and inspired hundreds of SME owners and corporate leaders to collaborate. Many destinations as a result took action to improve their offering and maximise their economic potential.

    During 2007 I provided leadership and strategic development as interim Project Director.

    The legacy resource created by P&P can be found here: http://www.stforum.co.uk/about_the_forum/prideandpassion.aspx

  • Co-founder; member of Management Group

    Tourism Innovation Group

    - 4 years 9 months

    Education

    The Tourism Innovation Group (TiG) was a private-sector led group, which aimed to stimulate tourism operators in Scotland into taking action to add to the quality, scope and success of tourism businesses, improving Scotland's competitiveness in tourism markets - in other words, to INNOVATE!

    This meant doing things differently, exploring new avenues, and taking risks. Funding from VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise having ended, efforts are being made to set up an entirely private…

    The Tourism Innovation Group (TiG) was a private-sector led group, which aimed to stimulate tourism operators in Scotland into taking action to add to the quality, scope and success of tourism businesses, improving Scotland's competitiveness in tourism markets - in other words, to INNOVATE!

    This meant doing things differently, exploring new avenues, and taking risks. Funding from VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise having ended, efforts are being made to set up an entirely private sector successor to TiG, and I hope they succeed! The legacy knowledge bank created by TiG can be found here: http://www.tourism-intelligence.co.uk/

Publications

  • No. 8 College Street, Winchester

    Texas Studies in Literature & Language , Special Issue: What's Next For Jane Austen? University of Texas Press

    Written on behalf of a client (a cultural tourism stakeholder), article describing the house in which the author Jane Austen died in 1817, as part of a special issue of the TSSL exploring the Jane Austen cultural phenomenon, two years after the much-commemorated bicentenary of her death.

    See publication

  • Employee Engagement: the Only Game in Town

    Travel GBi

    Tourism customer experience specialist Stephen Spencer emphasises the importance of attracting, engaging and retaining first class employees.

    Other authors
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  • How to Make a Retail Success

    Museums + Heritage Advisor

    Stephen Spencer, founder of Stephen Spencer and Associates, has his own philosophy on museum retail, which he is only too keen to pass on to willing ears. This philosophy revolves around a POSITIVE Customer Experience and the key to this he says is; making an effort, working harder than anybody else, digging deeper than anyone else to find out where the opportunities are, talking to more people than anyone else, being intelligent and creative, having perseverance and grit, create something…

    Stephen Spencer, founder of Stephen Spencer and Associates, has his own philosophy on museum retail, which he is only too keen to pass on to willing ears. This philosophy revolves around a POSITIVE Customer Experience and the key to this he says is; making an effort, working harder than anybody else, digging deeper than anyone else to find out where the opportunities are, talking to more people than anyone else, being intelligent and creative, having perseverance and grit, create something amazing and taking a few risks. So, not much then. But this all comes from the man himself taking risks and learning along the way.

    Other authors
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  • Managing Customer Experience in The Networked Age

    www.bookboon.com

    This book takes its title from a comment by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman: “We’re in the early stages of transitioning from the Information Age to the Networked Age”, and explains how organisations should think about the future, and use these insights to maximise engagement with, and value from, customers and stakeholders.

    In today’s turbulent world, customers’ ability to share with, and discover the opinions of, those they trust – their networks – is at an all-time high.

    The…

    This book takes its title from a comment by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman: “We’re in the early stages of transitioning from the Information Age to the Networked Age”, and explains how organisations should think about the future, and use these insights to maximise engagement with, and value from, customers and stakeholders.

    In today’s turbulent world, customers’ ability to share with, and discover the opinions of, those they trust – their networks – is at an all-time high.

    The book answers the questions:

    How has the Information Age changed the way our customers think, feel and behave?
    What is the Networked Age, and how can we prepare to thrive in it?
    What are the key future trends that will drive customer behaviour?
    What is Customer Experience, and how will it work in the Networked Age?
    How should we assimilate the trends into a future-proofed, Customer Experience model?
    It will also introduce, and equip the reader to implement, the STARS model of a customer-centric organisation.

    See publication

  • Communication: Perception is All There Is

    breatheHR Blog

    Communication is getting harder, not easier: know your audience and you will get your message across.

    See publication

  • Six Trends Redefining the Conference Experience

    Eventbrite Blog

    The mega trends that are shaping the Experience Economy

    See publication

  • "Customer Service: Britain's Tourism Iceberg"

    Tourism Society Journal

    See publication

  • "It's a Zoo Around Here: the New Rules for Better Communication" by Nigel Risner and Stephen Spencer

    Limitless Publications

    Colourful, challenging and highly practical, this is an essential handbook for leaders, managers, sales people, HR professionals, recruitment specialists, customer care teams, teachers, coaches and anyone who needs to get better results from their relationships with all personality types and communication preferences:
    - The visionary, single-minded Lion
    - The playful, extrovert Monkey
    - The careful, analytical Elephant
    - The caring, supportive Dolphin

    Other authors
    See publication

Organizations

  • Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)

    Fellow

    - Present

    We believe in a world where everyone is able to participate in creating a better future, by uniting people and ideas to resolve the challenges of our time. We do this by bringing together a global community of proactive problem solvers, supported by our Fellows and partners.

  • The Giftware Association

    Supplier Member

    - Present

    The Giftware Association is at the heart of the home and gift industry and will help raise your profile through networking, sales and marketing and great discounts and services. We have providers to guide you through the toughest legal, I.P and finance issues as well as offering valuable expertise from our 70 year history. We can guarantee to help your business thrive.

  • Tourism Society

    Fellow

    - Present

    The Tourism Society is the professional membership body for people working in all sectors of the visitor economy. It is where individuals from across all sectors of the Visitor Economy come together (online and offline) for discussion, debate, to share views and knowledge, and to network. The Society is the only professional membership organisation that represents all of Tourism - across all disciplines, geography and career stages.

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