GOLD Medal Travel is undergoing a major
management restructure which sees the departure of head of sales Gillian
Fleming and the creation of three senior positions.
Fleming, formerly Gillian Downer, is leaving Gold
Medal after three years to accompany her husband Europcar UK managing director
Paul Fleming to Brazil, where he will take up the post of president of
Volkswagen. Fleming is leaving Gold Medal at the end of November. The operator
is recruiting externally and internally to fill her post.
New roles at the Preston-based consolidator include
head of operations – with responsibility for 400 people – and head of
marketing, covering all the operator’s brands. Both positions will report
directly to group managing director Wayne Pearce.
David Robinson, board director and head of Gold
Medal’s direct-sell operation Airline Network, will take on the new position of
head of holidays and specialist sales.
The new team is set to be in place by January.
Pearce said the restructure was designed to improve
relations with the trade and had been one of the first priorities since the
business was diversified from selling 90% economy seat-only four years ago –
with two-thirds on North Atlantic routes – to 50% in the last year, with North
Atlantic accounting for only one-third.
“One year after September 11, we are keen to keep the
growth rates at 30% a year. This year growth rates were between 8%-10%,” he
said.
“We’ve been fighting a significant decline in sales
from the US, but if we hadn’t diversified the business, September 11 would have
caused us some real pain.”
Pearce declined to reveal who he was planning to
recruit.
The consolidator is also
looking for a ground contract manager and plans to recruit 80 telephone sales
consultants for its call centre by the end of the year.