Jamie Hindhaugh, head of sourcing at the BBC, has stepped up to become chairman of the Institute of Travel & Meetings UK & Ireland.
He takes over from Caroline Strachan, global category leader for AstraZeneca, who has stepped down from the ITM chairman role after two years.
Strachan will take up the post of immediate past chair from Mark Avery, head of business services for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
She said: “For three quarters of my tenure we have been in a recession and the board has committed huge amounts of time and energy to ensure the association flourishes at this difficult industry time.
“I want to thank all of them for their commitment, but especially those who have lead activity on my key tenets of meetings & events and education.”
Hindhaugh leads a newly replenished board after a total of nine new directors commenced with the association in December to replace those stepping down during early 2010.
In addition to Avery and directors who finished their terms during 2009, those standing down in early 2010 include Chris Reynolds of 3Sixtysourcing and Louisa Bell of Eurostar.
Hindhaugh said: “It is an incredibly exciting time to be taking the helm and I recognise the great work both the board and management of ITM have achieved to date.
“I’m not here to dramatically alter the course of the association, rather to build on the success achieved to date and focus our efforts on areas where we help members the most.”
by Phil Davies
