Midcounties hires ex-Co-operative Travel director
The Midcounties Co-operative has hired The Co-operative Travel's former distribution director Alistair Rowland to the newly created position of group general manager of travel services.
Rowland, who left The Co-operative following the merger with Thomas Cook which left him without a board position, will head up the overall strategy for the business. Sue Reid will continue as general manager for travel with specific accountability for distribution.
Rowland has been on gardening leave since September but his former employers have agreed to waive the remainder of his six month's leave to allow him to join Midcounties in November.
“I am delighted to be joining The Midcounties Co-operative at this exciting time to drive forward a growth strategy of profitable and sustainable businesses based on a multi-channel approach.," he said.
“Midcounties will become a significant force in the truly independent sector, backed by the Co-operative values which have been at the core of my career for the past 20 years."
Midcounties chief executive Ben Reid said: “Alistair’s appointment, along with the recent announcement of Sheena Darby as head of personal travel advisors, indicates the commitment we are making to our travel business and means we now have a strong team in place to deliver real growth online, in branches and through our home worker network.
“I am extremely confident that with Alistair’s experience and knowledge of the travel industry and Sue’s knowledge and leadership of our Midcounties business, we will have a team that can drive our business to be the best independent travel retailer in the country. This will allow us to achieve significant growth to serve our members and customers with unrivalled service in the years ahead.
“With the ongoing difficulties in the economy we strongly believe a truly independent travel business is very relevant to consumers’ needs and with the trust and strength the co-operative model gives we have never been better placed to focus on delivering a modern and relevant independent business.”
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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