Speaking to TTG during the group’s conference in Madeira on Sunday (1 May), Steven Esom hailed Advantage chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said for building a “first-class team” over the past three years.
“Julia has built such a strong team within Advantage,” he said. “The board were a bit concerned because Julia’s plan was actually not to hunker down or spend less, it was actually to support the members and spend more.
“The board has confidence in Julia and the rest of the executive team. Julia has spent the last three or four years building a first-class team which has taken us through this.
“Quite honestly, we’re going to come out of this so much stronger, with more members, a better structure and we’ve also now got a very clear position in terms of supporting not only our members but the whole independent travel sector.”
Meanwhile, Lo Bue-Said described how the pandemic forced the board to condense its five-year restructuring plan into just one year.
“What the pandemic almost certainly did quite quickly was it got us to rethink and refocus and bring that structure forward and bring those strategic aims forward,” she said.
“If I had said to the board three years ago this is what I’m looking to do with the structure, I’d probably said that’ll be in five years’ time. All of a sudden, those five years became a year. But it became so clear we had to do it.”
Despite having to make cuts during the pandemic, the Advantage board was “adamant” about not reducing the overall service it provided to its members.
“We were really fortunate that we were able to keep operating the business and as the team were operating; we also had a bit of headspace to think about the future vision, and how we make sure we come out of this without having to start from the beginning,” she added.
“We’ve invested in the team at the centre of the business. We’re in a really strong place.”
