First Choice announces retirement of Nigel Jenkins
Nigel Jenkins, managing director of the First Choice’s Activity Holidays Sector, will retire from a full-time executive role at the end of October.
He will be succeeded by John Wimbleton, who was also promoted last month to MD distribution in the Mainstream Holidays Sector and will join the Group Management Board on July 4.
Since taking on the MD role in 2001, Wimbleton has been responsible for the Mainstream Holidays Sector’s retail strategy, which has gone from no control of distribution of the product to 66% for summer 2006.
Nick Longman is returning from Canada to take up the position of MD Distribution in the Mainstream Holidays Sector and will work closely with Wimbleton to ensure a smooth transition.
Jenkins was co-founder of Unijet, acquired by First Choice in 1998, and has held a number of senior appointments within the company.
Darren Mee, director of tax and corporate finance and head of finance, US, will become finance director of the Activity Holidays Sector.
Hywel Thomas, the sector’s current finance director, will move back to Crawley into Group Finance to work with Paul Bowtell, group finance director.
First Choice chief executive Peter Long said: “Nigel has made an enormous contribution to the business, has huge passion and enthusiasm for the Group and the leisure travel industry as a whole and has played a significant part in our success to date.
“I am pleased to announce that he will not be severing his ties with us completely and has agreed to remain as a consultant to the Group on his retirement.”
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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