Building a governed operating model for a high-growth social channel.

ROLE
Head of Studio | Creative Operations Lead
Responsible for creative operations, social delivery governance and stakeholder alignment across internal teams and agency partners.

CONTEXT
Until 2019, Premier Inn had no dedicated in-house social function, leaving organic activity fragmented and operationally unstructured. As social platforms evolved rapidly, the business needed a coordinated, governance-led model to support growth without increasing risk.

IDEA
Supported the creation of an in-house social function aligned with the creative studio, introducing a structured operating model for content planning, approvals and governance.

SCOPE
Led implementation of a centralised social workflow spanning internal stakeholders and agency partners, establishing shared processes for planning, review and delivery across emerging platforms.

DELIVERY
Implemented HeyOrca as a central workflow and approval platform, creating a single source of truth across internal teams and agency partner The Social Shepherd.

Introduced structured content calendars, approval checkpoints and clearly defined roles to improve visibility, accountability and sign-off discipline.

Integrated the launch of TikTok into the operating model, enabling agile content creation while maintaining brand guardrails and governance.

IMPACT
Social evolved from a fragmented activity into a structured, high-performing channel. Turnaround times improved, approval friction reduced and stakeholder confidence increased through greater transparency.

TikTok reached 15,000+ followers within six months, with multiple viral videos, while Instagram engagement strengthened and social became more fully integrated into the customer journey.