Maria Petkova joins the group as a trade partnership executive, becoming the fourth former member of Classic staff to join SHG after it was acquired by TravCorp last summer.
Classic Collection was shuttered by owner On the Beach Group in September, putting 26 jobs at risk – seven years after it bought the brand for around £20 million.
Head of trade partnerships Jorge Quibell, trade partnerships manager Kim Sellman and trade marketing executive Chloe Turner all subsequently joined SHG, while Classic's former B2B director Si Morris-Green has stayed on with parent On the Beach to launch its new cruise offering.
Former Classic chief executive Andy Freeth joined TravCorp early last year before being promoted to group chief executive when it acquired SHG last July.
Quibell confirmed Petkova's appointment in a post to Facebook on Friday (20 February). "Maria brings a wealth of trade knowledge, having previously worked in a trade support role at Classic Collection, and she is already a fantastic addition to the team."
Addressing agents, he continued: "Maria is here to support you, our amazing agent partners, day to day with offers, onboarding, general enquiries, training, incentive payments, brochure ordering and much more. Her appointment really strengthens SHG’s commitment to the trade and supports our ambitious growth plans as a truly trade-friendly business."
Junior Hotel Inspectors
Alongside the post, he shared a picture of Petkova with her daughter Kalina, adding: "A little fun fact too – Maria’s daughter Kalina is already part of the SHG family, joining us as one of our Junior Hotel Inspectors on our trip back in November. Watch this space for more exciting news on our Junior Hotel Inspectors programme."
Junior Hotel Inspectors was a fam programme for industry professionals and their children, operated by Classic Collection. When the brand was closed, SHG stepped in and fulfilled one of the outstanding Junior Hotel Inspector trips.
Speaking to TTG earlier this year, Freeth said he couldn't bear the thought of their being so many disappointed kids missing out on great trips. "When that was pulled, I knew we could do something. Yes, you get the spoils of the PR, but ultimately, we would still have done it because there were six or seven gutted kids."
Freeth said SHG fulfilled the trip through its Sovereign brand, and hinted at more in the future. "We could do a US trip with American Holidays, or an Italy trip with Citalia. We may do it across the brands. Sovereign was the lead one though just because of the destinations.
"We're already planning the next one [trip]. We're already got a couple of partners we're talking to, people who were interested before but couldn't quite make the dates work."
