Matt Davies’ appointment comes as Travel Counsellors announces its 12th consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth, with average annual turnover growth of 18% over the past five years.
The company has seen a strong start to 2018, reporting that total bookings rose 12% in the first half of the year to hit £328 million, and sales this year are on track to be in excess of £600 million.
Davies was appointed chief executive of Tesco’s UK business in 2015, with his tenure culminating in the completion of a £3.7 billion takeover of wholesaler Booker Group. Having left Tesco following the completion of the transaction, Davies was named chair of online retailer N Brown in February 2018.
Steve Byrne, chief executive at Travel Counsellors, said: “Over the course of his career, Matt has had a transformational impact on the retail sector, creating new standards of quality and building household names.
“This track record, combined with his commitment to customer service and passion for putting people at the heart of a business, makes him the ideal non-executive chairman for Travel Counsellors.
“We will continue to focus on attracting, developing and building a team of the very best talent to enable the company to scale, alongside the development of our technology platform to operate on a much bigger stage.”
Davies added: “I have never met a team with such passion, energy and commitment to delivering for their customers and as obsessive about putting its people and customers at the epicentre of everything it does.”
In June Travel Counsellors completed a secondary buyout backed by Vitruvian Partners which will see the business continue to invest heavily in its in-house technology platforms. Last week the firm was recognised at the British Venture Capital Association’s Awards, as BVCA Management Team of the Year for the second year running.
