Karen Giles

Director, Compliance @Blackhawk Network (BHN) Europe

Hemel Hempstead, GB

Following the acquisition of Grass Roots by Blackhawk Network in 2016, I was asked to form the Compliance Team, whilst retaining responsibility for ISO 9001. My team cover a wide range of matters including Regulatory Compliance, Client Onboarding (KYB), Fraud Prevention and Detection, Modern Slavery, Anti-Bribery, Anti Money Laundering, company policies and investigations. After having spent 13 years in Meetings & Events at Marlow, I moved to a group role in June 2014. The role of Group Business Improvement Manager was to review processes and procedures across 6 UK locations, creating efficiencies and reducing duplication. I merged four ISO 9001 certificates into one, ensuring closer working practices across the business. In Meetings & Events I held various roles including Operations Director. Over 13 years I had the responsibility of departments such as Event Management, Account Management, Delegate Registration, Aviation, IT Systems Development, Facilities Management, Creative and Outsourced Administration. All of my roles focussed on the overall responsibility for operational excellence, strategic planning, process improvement and systems investigation and integration for each of the areas that I covered. This also incorporated the functions of people management, recruitment, training and development, which I have always enjoyed. In addition to the management responsibilities, I was also heavily involved in Quality, Crisis Management, Business Continuity and the Green Team. In 2012 my role focussed on the operational delivery of a travel and communications programme for a global sponsor of the Olympics, managing their guest programme for over people from across Europe and the distribution of tickets for a number of stakeholders. I was also responsible for smaller programmes for this client, including the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014, and the Winter Olympics in 2014.