Midcounties Co-op has appointed a new head of its travel division as it looks to take the agency, homeworking and consortium group to the next stage of growth
Rad Sofronijevic will be a familiar name to many in travel having previously worked in various roles at First Choice and Travelmood, part of Tui’s specialist division.
Her appointment as chief operating officer of travel at Midcounties Co-op was due to be announced internally this morning to all staff.
The move allows Alistair Rowland, group general manager of travel services, to handover day-to-day running of the division. He also has healthcare and childcare under his remit.
Rowland said: “Rad’s appointment is all about that next stage of growth in all channels to market and expanding our companies.
“My role is bigger now. I am running three specialist retail companies and have still been hands on in travel. This is something I’ve been looking to do for a while.
“I’m delighted to have been able to appoint Rad. I’m sure her appointment will go down well as she’s well known in travel.”
Sofronijevic has been working in childcare and healthcare at the Co-op since April 2011, most recently as general manager of Co-operative Healthcare since April last year.
She was previously sales and operations director for First Choice Retail and Holiday Hypermarket before becoming managing director of Travelmood.
She started her career in travel with International Leisure Group before moving on to Yugotours and West Midlands Co-op Travel.
Sofronijevic said: “I am delighted to take on the new role of COO within the Co-op Travel Group.
The business is progressive, innovative and performing well in a tough market and I’m looking forward to working with the excellent team to drive further growth.”
Midcounties Co-operative Travel currently has 56 retail branches and operates cooptravel.co.uk, Personal Travel Agents at Co-op Travel and the Co-op Consortium.
Turnover in 2017 will exceed £400 million, a growth of 570% in the last five years.