Speakers

Paul Kelsall is Chief Operating Officer at BeWILDerwood, bringing more than 20 years’ experience across visitor attractions, leisure, hospitality and experience-led businesses.

Before joining BeWILDerwood, Paul was Managing Director of SEESAW in Manchester and, prior to that, spent more than a decade leading Pavilion Gardens in Buxton. During his time there, he helped transform the historic venue into a successful, multi-income destination, developing new commercial opportunities while retaining the character and heritage that made it special. Prior to this his work in the leisure sector was recognised through a number of industry awards.

At BeWILDerwood, Paul is focused on building on its reputation as an award-winning visitor attraction and delivering brilliant experiences across its three sites.

Paul believes that great visitor experiences and strong commercial performance should go hand in hand. His approach combines creativity, operational discipline and commercial thinking, with a particular interest in the challenges, experiments and mistakes that sit behind successful businesses not just the awards and headlines that come afterwards.