FIRST CHOICE group managing director Peter Long has emerged as the key figure in a board-level reshuffle at the newly-merged Kuoni Holdings.
Long was originally one of a board of 14, but the board has been trimmed to 10 and he has been elevated to chief executive.
One analyst said:”The City wasn’t impressed that Long did not have a more key role and he knew this. They had to elevate him or the deal would not have gone through.”
Meanwhile, Long’s chairman at First Choice, Ian Clubb, is to take a back seat as non-executive chairman.
Kuoni’s Daniel Affolter will rise from deputy chairman to executive chairman of the new group, one of three directors who will receive ú733,000 each for relinquishing their roles but staying on in an executive capacity. Kuoni chief executive Riccardo Gullotti becomes a non-executive director.
Both Gullotti and Clubb will enjoy huge pay-outs for taking a back seat.
Gullotti takes ú4.3m while Clubb is in line for more than ú840,000. This is based on termination payment of ú543,000 and an annual consultancy deal of ú150,000 for at least two years. He will become non-executive deputy chairman.
A spokesman for the proposed Kuoni Holdings said: “The two management teams have mutually agreed a streamlining of the proposed board to a more manageable number and to allocate lines of responsibility more clearly.”