Former Der Touristik UK chief executive and Kuoni managing director Derek Jones has joined Not Just Travel as a non-executive director.
His appointment is the latest high-profile appointment by the company, which took on ex-Dawson & Sanderson managing director Chris Harrison in March.
Jones takes up the role after leaving Kuoni’s parent company in August last year. He was at Kuoni for just over 13 years and previously worked for Tui for more than a decade, which included running more than 1,000 high street stores.
Jones, who was on gardening leave until February and has been keeping his “options open” in terms of his return to the travel sector, said he was “hugely impressed” by the senior leadership team at Not Just Travel, describing it as a “great business”.
As a non-executive director, he will help to shape and drive forward the next stage of the company’s growth.
“I hope I can help them move forward more quickly and steer them in the right direction. I’m here to support the business and find the right strategy to move the business forward. I will be as hands on as they need me to be,” he said, adding: “They have ambitious plans.”
Not Just Travel co-founder and managing director Steve Witt said Jones’ appointment would help the business, which has more than 1,000 franchisees, to achieve its ambition to be “number one in its sector”.
He cited the importance of experienced travel professionals for the next stage of the company’s growth.
He said: “How does a company with ambitions to be number one in its sector, and which has more than doubled in size in the last year, keep its edge and stay in front? Simple. It brings the very best talent into the business.
“Derek is one of the best-known figures in the UK travel industry, with over 30 years’ experience leading some of Britain’s best-loved travel brands.
“Paul [Harrison, co-founder] and I do not come from a travel background, yet we’ve built one of the biggest businesses in our industry. For the next part of our journey, it’s key we have people with the right experiences to help lead the business and continue this growth.”
The company said it would continue to expand its leadership team with a “diverse range of people and skills” to help the shape the business for the future after enjoying “phenomenal” sales growth in the last few years. The homeworking agency’s cruise sales alone have doubled in the last six months.
Witt added: “Not Just Travel is very serious about bringing the very best talent into the business.”
Jones said he was first attracted to Not Just Travel because its franchise model took on agents from outside the travel sector.
“It’s great to see people with no experience in travel becoming successful and delivering high quality service. This part of the business model is really exciting and is delivering really great growth,” said Jones, adding businesses which did not recruit from outside the industry were in danger of missing out on “great talent”.
Not Just Travel’s franchise model, in which agents buy a franchise and run their own businesses as entrepreneurs, also ensured agents were “fully committed” and invested in training and gaining knowledge, he said.
Not Just Travel will be Jones’ main focus, although he plans to announce some other non executive travel roles soon. Jones already works as a non-executive director of Adventure Base, a mountain adventure company, and is chair of charity Abta LifeLine.
He added: “There are a few other roles I will be able to go public with in the next few weeks, but Not Just Travel is my priority. It’s the one I will be focusing on in the short term.”