Hays Travel, Ambassador, Classic Collection: this week's travel trade people moves

Hayley Gadd has left Hays Travel after nearly six years to join the P&O Cruises trade team. Gadd, who has managed Hays Travel’s Weymouth store since January 2019, will join the line as a partnerships development manager, bringing 25 years' travel retailing experience. The Weymouth branch made the TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies in 2018 and was named Top Agency in the South West in 2019 and 2021. It re-entered the Top 50 earlier this year (2024). Gadd, meanwhile, was named Manager of the Year at the 2023 Travel Industry Awards by TTG. Jane Schumm, Hays Travel’s retail director, said: “We are delighted for Hayley and thank her for all her hard work over her time with Hays Travel. We wish her every success in her new role, where we are sure she will be just as excellent as she was with us."

Former AE Expeditions business support executive Karen Hollands has joined new lead generator platform ExplorEarth, which was set up by the line’s ex-UK managing director Jos Dewing. Hollands, who Dewing described as being “a massive champion of sustainability”, has taken up a newly created commercial and partnerships executive position at ExplorEarth. The recently launched company promotes destinations, ships and cruises, and features a matching engine which generates booking leads for agents. Dewing said: “Having worked with Karen for three years at AE Expeditions, it’s rare to find someone with the personality, skillset and incredible in-destination experience Karen has. She has travelled multiple times to the Antarctic and the Arctic."

Ambassador Cruise Line has named Emma Rodgers as its new divisional sales manager for the North. Rodgers joins from A-Rosa River Cruises and brings experience from previous trade-facing roles with the likes of Classic Collection and Riviera Travel. She will report into and replace Karen Cameron, who was promoted to the role of deputy head of trade earlier this year, but has continued to look after agents in the North, which also includes responsibility for Scotland and Ireland. Ambassador said Rodgers had a successful track record "driving revenue growth and developing strategic partnerships" with agents. “The arrival of someone of Emma’s calibre illustrates just how highly we value our agent partners," said Nicola Harper, Ambassador's head of distribution. "We are fully committed to supporting our trade partners with the knowledge and resources they need to succeed.”

C&M Travel Recruitment managing director Basia Kolosinska and sales director Duncan Tingle have bought out the recruitment firm’s former chair to take full ownership of the business. The pair joined the company more than two decades ago not long after founder Angus Chisholm set up the business in 1998. Chisholm will take up a non-executive directorship role with C&M, which estimates it has placed more than 20,000 candidates in travel industry roles over the past 26 years. Kolosinska said: “Hard work, commitment and loyalty really do pay off and I hope this shows anyone out there that anything is possible in your careers if you want it enough.”

Meon Valley Travel's TMC division, Meon Travel Management, has appointed a new client success manager. Annalise Hall (second from left), who joins the firm following a seven-year stint with American Express Global Business Travel, will focus on further developing Meon Travel's bespoke customer service proposition. “I’m excited to hit the ground running with Team Meon and bring my experience to such a dynamic company,” she said. “I look forward to contributing to Meon’s continued success with customer value at the heart of everything we do." Meon Valley said Hall's appointment came in response to current and future staffing requirements in a "rapidly evolving" industry, and would further develop its specialist business travel and emergency assistance expertise.

Aviation trade body Bar UK has named Michael Smeeth as its new chief executive, bringing 25 years' leadership experience to the post – most notably in roles adjacent to sustainable aviation, including with General Electric, Sustainable Development Capital and Transition Hydrogen Solutions. Bar UK said Smeeth joined the organisation at a "pivotal time" for aviation with the new UK government poised to prioritise sustainability. Smeeth said he would work to advocate for policies fostering a "competitive, safe and sustainable aviation environment", and to encourage the aviation sector to speak with a unified voice.

Meon Valley Travel managing director James Beagrie, British Airways global sales director David Oppenheim, Business Travel Association chief executive Clive Wratten and Avis Budget Group senior director of international travel and partnerships Jeannette Harper are among the 14 members of the Advantage Travel Partnership's new global business travel advisory board. The board will focus on supporting Advantage’s global business travel members and partners, their goals and strategic direction, giving senior executives guidance and insights. Chair Andrea Caulfield-Smith said the board's "proven expertise" and "valuable strategic insight" would help Advantage achieve its key growth objectives and product development plans.