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Only four out of five dnata directors join luxury operator If Only
Four of five former dnata Travel UK managers have finally taken up their new roles with the luxury tour operators If Only following a long legal battle with their former employer.
However a fifth, dnata’s former director of product and commercial Matt Appleby, has chosen not to take up his position at If Only.
If Only managing director Brendan Maguire said: "For personal family reasons, Matt Appleby will not be joining If Only… and we wish Matt every success for the future.
"However we are confident that we will be appointing a candidate to lead the product and commercial team in the coming weeks."
Skipton-based Appleby, who was prior to joining dnata in 2015 was Thomas Cook head of longhaul product, lists his status on the professional social media site LinkedIn as an independent consultant.
His former Gold Medal and Travel 2 colleague Andy Freeth, David Irving, Tracy Docherty and Gordon McCreadie have all taken up their new roles at If Only’s Glagow HQ this week.
The five, who resigned from dnata en masse last June to defect to If Only, were blocked from joining as planned last September when dnata launched legal action to delay the move.
All five, including Appleby and If Only, reached an out of court settlement with dnata last October, in which it was agreed they wouldn’t join If Only or have any involvement with the operator until April 1 this year
If Only said today that it was ‘delighted to finally announce the arrival’ of Freeth, its new CEO, McCreadie, new sales and marketing director, business development director Docherty and head of specialist business Irving.
"The team join during an unprecedented period of growth, following If Only’s recent launch of its USA programme and its continued success in established destinations," it said in a statement.
"The next few weeks will see the new directors, along with the existing management team, develop If Only’s future strategy, and following the successful launch of its USA programme, the strategy is likely to include the launch of a Caribbean programme early in the summer of 2018."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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