Tui UK & Ireland has announced that director of retail Kathryn Ward is to leave the business after 28 years’ service.
News of her departure comes days after the company announced it is to shut its Coventry customer contact centre in December 2015, with up to 600 roles at risk of redundancy.
David Burling, managing director, said: “I’d like to thank Kathryn for her hard work and dedication to the business. Her enthusiasm and passion for our brands has been a great asset to the organisation and she will be missed.”
Ward said: “Making the decision to leave was incredibly tough but I felt it was the right time to hand over to someone else and look for my next challenge. It’s my time to move on and I do so knowing that I’m leaving the retail arm of the business in incredible shape.”
Ward started at Tui on the shop floor as a travel advisor in 1986 after a foundation degree in travel management at Wolverhampton University.
She rose through the ranks, becoming the company’s youngest shop manager and regional sales manager before being promoted to sales and operations director for Thomson from 1999-2005 and retail director of Thomson’s 750 shops from 2005 to 2008.
Her remit broadened when she was appointed retail and financial services director in 2008 until 2013, during which time she led the merger of 1,200 Thomson and First Choice shops.
This year she was made retail, contact centres and financial services director of the group’s 650 shops, overseeing the rebrand of First Choice to Thomson and opening of new next-generation stores.
Ward was named as one of the top 60 most influential women in the travel industry by the Association of Women Travel Executives last year.