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Dr Thomas Middelhoff (55)
Title: Non-Executive Chairman
Appointment: March 2007
Committee memberships: Member of Audit & Risk Management Committee, Nominations Committee, and Management Development & Remuneration Committee.
Skills & experience: Thomas Middelhoff is Chairman of the management board of Arcandor AG, and was previously Chairman of the supervisory board of Thomas Cook AG. Prior to joining Arcandor AG he was Head of Europe for Corporate Investment at Investcorp International and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann AG.
External appointments: Chairman of Senator Entertainment AG, moneybookers.com Ltd and Co-Chairman of Germany1 Acquisition Limited. He is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arcandor AG and Director of New York Times Company.
Michael Beckett (72)
Title: Non-Executive Deputy Chairman & Senior Independent Director
Appointment: March 2007
Committee memberships: Chairman of Nominations Committee, Chairman of Management Development & Remuneration Committee, Member of Audit & Risk Management Committee, Member of Health, Safety & Environmental Committee.
Skills & experience: Michael Beckett was Chairman of MyTravel Group plc between 2004 and 2007. He was Chairman of Coalcorp Mining Inc. (Colombia), London Clubs International plc, Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited and Clarkson plc, and was formerly Managing Director of Consolidated Gold Fields plc.
External appointments: Non-Executive active Chairman of Endeavour Financial Corporation (Canada). Non-Executive Director of Northam Platinum Ltd (South Africa), Orica Ltd (Australia), The Egypt Trust (Luxembourg), Mvelaphanda Resources Limited (South Africa) and Medoro Resources Limited (Canada).
Manny Fontenla-Novoa (54)
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Appointment: July 2007
Committee memberships: Chairman of Group Executive Board, Member of Health, Safety & Environmental Committee.
Skills & experience: Manny Fontenla-Novoa joined the Company in 1996 following the acquisition of Sunworld, which was then the UK’s fourth largest tour operator. He was a founding director of Sunworld and has 30 years’ experience in the travel industry. He has held senior management positions within the Group, latterly as Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Cook AG.
External appointments: Director of Arcandor AG and Mediterranean Touristic Management, a joint venture between Thomas Cook Destinations GmbH and Iberostar Hoteles y Apartamentos S.L.
Dr Jürgen Büser (42)
Title: Chief Financial Officer
Appointment: July 2008
Committee memberships: Member of Group Executive Board.
Skills & experience: Prior to his current role, Jürgen Büser was Chief Financial Officer for the UK & Ireland Division and spent three years before that as Head of Controlling & M&A for Thomas Cook AG in Germany. Before joining Thomas Cook, he held senior positions within Siemens Financial Services’ international consulting firm, Booz Allen & Hamilton and Westdeutsche Landesbank, Germany’s largest public sector bank.
External appointments: None
David Allvey (63)
Title: Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: March 2007
Committee memberships: Chairman of Audit & Risk Management Committee, Member of Health, Safety & Environmental Committee.
Skills & experience: David Allvey was Non-Executive Director of MyTravel Group plc between 2003 and 2007. Prior to this he was Group Finance Director of Barclays Bank plc, B.A.T Industries plc and Allied Zurich plc and held senior finance positions with Zurich Financial Services AG.
External appointments: Chairman of Costain Group PLC and Arena Coventry Ltd; Senior Independent Director of Intertek Group plc and Non-Executive Director of William Hill plc. He is a trustee of the William Hill Pension Fund.
Roger Burnell (58)
Title: Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: March 2007
Committee memberships: Chairman of Health, Safety & Environmental Committee, Member of Audit & Risk Management Committee, Nominations Committee and Management Development & Remuneration Committee.
Skills & experience: Roger Burnell was a Non-Executive Director of MyTravel Group plc from April 2003. Before joining MyTravel, he was Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Thomson Travel Group plc. Other board experience includes Chairman of The First Resort Limited, Chairman of International Life Leisure Group Limited and Chairman of HomeForm Group Limited.
External appointments: Director of Coventry Building Society and Clarence Mansions Management Company Limited.
Dr Peter Diesch (54)1
Title: Non-Executive Director
Appointment: March 2007
Committee memberships: Member of Audit & Risk Management Committee, Nominations Committee and Management Development & Remuneration Committee.
Skills & experience: Peter Diesch is Chief Financial Officer of Arcandor AG. Before joining Arcandor, he was CFO and HR Director of Linde AG, CFO and HR Director of Tchibo Holding AG and CFO of Airbus GmbH.
External appointments: Director of Arcandor AG and Delton AG.
1 Peter Diesch will resign from the Board on 22 December 2008, and Karl-Gerhard Eick will be appointed as a Non-Executive Director as mentioned in the Chairman’s statement.
Hemjö Klien (67)
Title: Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: July 2007
Committee memberships: Member of Management Development & Remuneration Committee and Health, Safety & Environmental Committee.
Skills & experience: Hemjö Klein was formerly a member of the Executive Board of Lufthansa AG and was a member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn. He has also held the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sixt AG, DER Deutsches Reisebüro GmbH and Condor Flugdienst GmbH. He was previously Chairman of Amadeus SA and a member of the Supervisory Board of TUI AG. He was Chairman and president of the German National Tourist Board.
External appointments: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Live Holding AG. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Telefunken Holding AG. Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of HumanOptics AG and Payment Solution AG, Chairman of Mountain Partners AG, Director of Convergence CT Inc and Supervisory Board member of DVB Bank.
Bo Lerenius (62)
Title: Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: July 2007
Committee memberships: Member of Audit & Risk Management Committee.
Skills & experience: Between 1992 and 1998 Bo Lerenius was Chief Executive of the then listed company, Stena Line, and between 1998 and 1999 he was Vice Chairman of Stena Line and Director of New Business at Stena AB. From 1985 to 1992 he was Group President and Chief Executive of Swedish listed building materials group, Ernstromgruppen. He was Group Chief Executive of Associated British Ports Holdings Plc between 1999 and 2007.
External appointments: Chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK; Non-Executive Director of G4S plc, Land Securities Group plc, Ittur Group (Sweden) and Rorvik Timber (Sweden). He is an advisor to the infrastructure fund of Swedish venture capital group, EQT.
Nigel Northridge (52)
Title: Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment: August 2008
Committee memberships: Member of Nominations Committee and Management Development & Remuneration Committee.
Skills & experience: Nigel Northridge was Chief Executive of Gallaher Group Plc for seven years until April 2007. Over his 30-year career with the Gallaher Group he held a range of senior positions in general management and sales & marketing roles.
External appointments: Senior Independent Director of Aggreko plc, Senior Independent Director of Paddy Power plc and assumes the role of Non-Executive Chairman on 1st January 2009. He is also Non-Executive Director of London Irish Rugby Club and PGA European Tour.