I joined the Shubbak Festival team as General Manager & Producer in November 2020. I was brought in to oversee the organisation through a transitionary period as they worked towards this year’s hybrid arts festival in the middle of a pandemic. During my time, I spearheaded a complete organisational overhaul on key business processes such as finance, HR, legal and elements of festival programming.

The festival ran from June 20th – July 17th 2021 with both an online (hosted on TicketCo) and physical programme in venues such as the Barbican, Rich Mix, Artsadmin and Chelsea Physic Garden. Due to the timing of the festival, we operated under social distancing guidance. As such, I was tasked with developing a comprehensive COVID-19 risk assessment that was adopted across all of our partner venues.

I was responsible for making sure the festival’s logistics were planned and implemented, including visa applications, resource planning, travel and accommodation, contractual arrangements with venues and partners etc. As part of this, I successfully got the festival on the Permit Free Festival list.

I supported our CEO in managing our core and festival team, whilst overseeing a range of strategic delivery partners both in the UK and across the MENA region, identifying commercial collaborations for the organisation.

I worked to ensure compliance with legal obligations and requirements including: Companies Act, Charity Commission, Employment Law, GDPR, H&S etc.

I also worked with our Board of Trustees, presenting financial reports and projections by running the finance committee, updates on festival and communication strategies and key developments.