Travel trade support group Back in Time for Bed names first board
Travel trade parental support group Back in Time for Bed (BITFB) has appointed four well-known industry professionals to its first "board of parents" to support the group’s growth ambitions.
They are Berry Consulting’s Julie Berry, Club Med’s Jemma Bridges, Celebrity Cruises’ Michael Young-Richards and DoSomethingDifferent’s Lucy Paterson.
The quartet will support BITFB’s founders Vicky Billing, Riviera Travel’s UK and Ireland head of trade partnerships, and Anna Perrott, Panache Cruises’ partnerships director.
Billing said the pair had been "overwhelmed" by the response to the group, which was formed in February 2023. "Launching this special initiative will be a tremendous help as we look to grow our support over the coming months and years."
Perrott said it was an exciting time for the initiative. "Our community is growing every day and it’s clear to see that this platform is needed. Please do get involved – we are one travel family."
Mum-of-three Paterson said she hoped to inspire other travel businesses to improve support for the industry’s parents, while fellow mum-of-three Berry added she believed the board would help share the growing workload at BITFB between a wider pool of people.
BITFB will host its second family fun day this weekend (Sunday 11 August) onboard Royal Caribbean International ship Anthem of the Seas in Southampton. The event will include activities for parents and children, and opportunities to meet and network with other industry professionals.
Meet the board
Julie Berry
After more than 20 years at Thomas Cook, Berry became self-employed, offering business consulting services to the travel trade. She has three daughters – twins who have just turned 18, while her youngest starts secondary school in September.
Jemma Bridges
Jemma is key account manager for Club Med and has been in the travel industry for 20 years. She has two children, aged nine and seven.
Michael Young-Bridges
Michael is a strategic account manager at Celebrity Cruises, where he has worked for the past six years. He has worked in the travel industry for more than 25 years across roles spanning Tui, Kuoni and DoSomethingDifferent. He lives in Cheshire with his husband Les and son Jacob, who becomes a teenager this summer.
Lucy Paterson
Lucy is mother to three boys and has worked in the travel industry for 23 years, including the past 11 with DoSomethingDifferent, where she was recently promoted to the role of retail partnerships manager.
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