Chris Thelen, chief executive of business travel start-up TakeTwo Travel Solutions, has acquired Eton Travel Group, a travel management company headquartered in Eton, Berkshire.
Eton Travel Group has been providing services to SME clients from the pharmaceutical, IT, finance, retail, manufacturing, legal and consulting industries for 53 years.
Before the pandemic, it had a turnover of £40 million but its business has been “significantly impacted” by Covid-19 travel restrictions.
A member of the Business Travel Association, Advantage Travel Group and Amex GBT’s Travel Partner Network, Eton has three premises: Eton and Wokingham in Berkshire, and Cork in Ireland.
As part of the acquisition, Ken Thompson, managing director of Eton Travel Group, will retire.
Director Martin Boone is promoted to general manager of Eton Travel Group and another director Chris Klinker will become head of speciality sales.
Alison Rodgers, formerly manager of music industry specialist division Detonate, will become head of VIP and entertainment; Kay Fleet – previously IT and systems manager – becomes head of technology and special projects; and Joan Budgen moves from her leisure travel manager role to be head of luxury leisure.
The senior team will report to Thelen (pictured), who said: “Eton is an established brand with a solid reputation; it’s a great company with exceptional staff.
“I’ve been impressed with the senior team and have been working with them for some time to find a way to preserve the business and save as many jobs as possible.”
He said the emergence of the Omicron variant has brought “fresh challenges in recent weeks” to the business travel industry but said he was “fully committed” to Eton.
“I believe Eton has a strong future and I want it to succeed and thrive again as travel continues to recover in 2022,” added Thelen.
“It will be business as usual at Eton as the company continues to operate under its own brand with its own sales strategies, partners and customers.
“However, Eton clients will benefit from a significant uplift in service as I will be investing in technology, maximising the opportunities presented by Eton’s office in Ireland and we’ll have a renewed focus on all partnerships.”
Retiring MD Ken Thompson added: “I’m happy to be leaving the business in such safe hands with Chris Thelen and my fellow senior team.
“Chris is a dynamic leader with proven success in corporate travel and I know Eton has an exciting future with him at the helm.”
Thelens joined forces with Julie Cope to start TakeTwo Travel Solutions in September 2021.