About

Sally Mayell​

Meet the team

Sally Mayell

Sally’s fascination with the hotel and hospitality industry sprung from a very early age.  Her family background is in the Hotel industry and many family holidays were spent staying in hotels up and down the country.  Her love for the hospitality industry grew from here and she always knew this was the path that she would follow.

After graduating from Hotel School, Sally worked in a number of four and five star hotels in the UK.  Starting off in Guest Relations and then Front of House followed by Sales and Marketing and finally in Events at Bath Spa Hotel – where her passion for this sector of the industry grew.  In 1993 she moved into the world of live events – initially working for a small venue finding agency in Wiltshire as an Account Director and then in 1997 she moved to a Manchester based live events agency as Head of Logistics.

Working on some large global accounts and logistically managing a range of events from small exclusive incentive groups to large product launches, business meetings, corporate hospitality programmes and sales conventions.  During this time Sally travelled the globe managing events all over Europe, the Middle East, Asia, The Americas (North, South & The Caribbean).

In 2007 she moved to the North-East of Scotland (a destination favourite) – with her husband Nick and beloved Labrador Bertie to live the rural dream for 12 years.  This was her very own “Escape to the Country” and after initially going freelance sms:events was born in Pittendreich in 2008.

She loved her time in Scotland – the rugged landscape, beautiful beaches and forests, clean air, and many, many dog walks.  After sadly losing Bertie in 2015, Sally now has his cousin Harry – a true Ayrshire lad and another beautiful Labrador of course!

In 2019 Sally and Nick made the move back “home” to the South West and now live in an idyllic village in rural Somerset.  She is still managing events and doing what she loves most – looking after the people who attend them.

Her hobbies of course include travel, cooking, reading, walking the English (and Scottish) countryside with Harry, yoga, theatre, and ballet.  She will never tire of meeting new people, researching new venues and experiencing different cultures and places.

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Meet the team

Becca Heptinstall

Events and travel have been a part of Becca’s life for many years. Born in Hong Kong, she then moved to Spain in her teenage years. Her passion for events began over 25 years ago when she worked in the Music business in London – organising tours and events for famous recording artists.

Moving to Bristol 18 years ago she joined Sally and the team as Head of Venue Finding and shortly afterwards became a key member of the Logistics Events Team managing several key accounts in the consumer and technology sector.

After getting married to Phil and starting a family (two amazing boys called Jack and Charlie), Becca could not let her passion for events slide and decided to set up her own venue finding business working with a range of clients in the media and retail sector.

Becca and Sally always stayed in contact and when Sally approached Becca in 2015 to join sms:events she jumped at the chance. They are both excited to be working together again combining their individual talents and years of events experience and knowledge.

In Becca’s spare time she loves nothing more than travelling with Phil and her boys – who luckily all share her passion for travel. They have travelled extensively either visiting Becca’s brother in Thailand or other far-flung destinations. One of their favourite holiday locations must be Langkawi in Malaysia and in particular The Andaman – a stunning tropical beachfront resort set along a coral reef and surrounded by an ancient rainforest.

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Becca Heptinstall

References available on Request

Many Satisfied Past Clients

During our time in the live events industry, we have been lucky enough to work with clients in various markets including sports retail, information technology, pharmaceuticals, personal healthcare, animal health and welfare, telecommunications, the travel & airline industry, and financial services.

Our events have taken us all over the UK as well as the four corners of the globe – Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia, Africa, and The Middle East

References from our satisfied past clients are of course available on request

Sally’s experience and dedication to excellence are the reasons to choose her, but her good humour, take charge attitude and willingness to do whatever it takes are rewards for working with her. It was a splendid international event in Scotland. Exquisitely managed and delivered.

I have worked with Sally for a number of years and the reason is simple. In my 20+ years in the corporate world I haven’t met anyone better in this line of work. A complete focus on the client, attention to detail and a wealth of expertise and knowledge make Sally the true professional she is.