Julie Baker, Vice President for Operations in the UK & Ireland, Hilton Julie Baker is an experienced business leader and a senior figure in the hospitality industry. Since joining Hilton as Vice President for Operations in the UK & Ireland in 2018, Julie has been at the helm of more than 50 Hilton hotels across the region. Julie’s career has been wide reaching - starting in marketing with Unilever in 1989, then holding a variety of FMCG senior management and international roles at Sara Lee, and latterly a MD-level position at Capita, a FTSE 250 business services company. Julie has overcome several challenges as a leader, most recently successfully leading 53 hotels through the pandemic. Running a nationwide hotel operation during unprecedented times has required her to act quickly and decisively to not only mitigate against commercial impact, but also keep morale high for the talented teams she works with. Julie has been responsible for thousands of Hilton Team Members, whilst anticipating the evolving landscape her teams operate in, from last-minute changes to restrictions, to closures and re-openings and changing legislation. She has been pivotal in ensuring that Hilton leads the way to recovery, in hygiene and cleanliness, whilst providing a gold-standard service to its guests. Her leadership tip – Be honest and transparent about the situation, but maintain positivity and always give people hope