Travel.Radio has appointed a new station manager, new presenters and adopted Abta Lifeline as its charity partner.
The digital radio station for the travel industry and the public has brought in Jason Hardy as station manager. He has 20 years of broadcast experience and produces shows on BBC Radio Manchester as well as being a regular DJ at clubs and bars in the north west.
Hardy will be responsible for the overall 24-hour operation of travel.radio – and take over as Breakfast Show presenter following Del Willden’s retirement.
Willden was one of the three directors who set up CCFM On Air, the fore-runner of Travel.Radio. He remains a board director and will make some guest presenting appearances from his holiday home in Spain.
Dan Parker has been hired to support hardy by providing technical support for both broadcast and website.
Travel.Radio has also hired some new presenters.
James Owen has started presenting the Early Breakfast show, Rob Staines and Mike Parker now share the Afternoon Travel shows, Steven Wilson looks after The Evening Show, and Simon Costello and Trevor Jenkins will now present Destination Unknown.
Three more presenters will join in August. They are Natasha Wordsworth in Malta, Mo Zayani in Bahrain and Terence Parris in Germany.
Travel.Radio has chosen Abta Lifeline as one of its two official charity partners. The other is SOS Silence of Suicide.
Abta LifeLine is a charity for past and present employees of Abta members. It provides practical, financial and emotional support to travel colleagues in their time of need.
Deb Henley, chief executive of Travel.Radio, said: “We are enjoying success as we continue to evolve and grow, connecting people around the world, especially now as people start travelling again. We are so lucky to have such talented presenters and backroom staff and we will continue to add to that team as some of them now have to return to their full-time jobs.
“Despite some of them leaving for now, they are all keeping in touch and will be covering guest presenting slots. In the meantime, we are delighted to welcome all the new presenters and a few more still to be named who are joining us in the coming weeks.
“We are also delighted to support ABTA Lifeline who are doing a magnificent job supporting colleagues in the industry through one of the worst ever periods in travel history.”