gold medal to undergo management restructure

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.