Barrhead Travel has permanently appointed former Thomas Cook head of retail Nicki Tempest-Mitchell as sales and marketing director.
She has been handed the newly-created position having worked for the Glasgow-headquartered agency as a consultant since 2019, when she was hired along with other ex-Thomas Cook leaders to oversee the agency’s expansion.
Barrhead said Tempest-Mitchell played a “pivotal role” in the recruitment of many former Thomas Cook employees as Barrhead Travel began to grow its network following Cook’s collapse.
Prior to her time at Thomas Cook, Tempest-Mitchell held senior positions with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises.
Jacqueline Dobson, president of Barrhead Travel, said: “I am really pleased to be formally welcoming Nicki to our senior leadership team. Over the last eighteen months, Nicki’s contributions have been invaluable to the business: from leading our expansion project pre-Covid to helping us navigate some of the most complicated challenges our business has ever experienced during the pandemic.
“Aside from her impressive industry experience, Nicki also shares the same personal values and ethos that we hold as a team at Barrhead Travel. Her career started on the sales counter selling holidays – just like many of our senior team here – and she shares our vision and passion for internal growth and development. I know I speak for everyone in the business when I say we’re looking forward to working with Nicki in her new role as sales and marketing director.”
Tempest-Mitchell’s new role will see her lead the retail division – including all call centres – at Barrhead Travel which will include responsibility for aligning the sales and marketing strategies.
She said: “Working with the Barrhead Travel team has been truly fantastic – the pandemic has certainly served us with a bumpy ride but, seeing first-hand the skills and experience across the breadth of the business, I know we’re well-positioned to move forward with a strong recovery.
“While there’s challenges ahead for the industry, it’s a privilege to be joining the senior leadership team at, what I believe, is one the UK’s most dynamic travel businesses. I’m very much looking forward to my next chapter with Barrhead Travel.”