PHILIP JANSEN, MyTravel’s group chief operating officer, yesterday became the tenth board director to quit the beleaguered tour operator in less than two years.
Mr Jansen, who has been appointed UK and Ireland chief executive of Sodexho Alliance, the French catering services group, will leave MyTravel in October after just two years at the company.
He is the tenth director to leave the tour operator since Tim Byrne quit as chief executive in October 2002 in the wake of a string of profit warnings and the revelation of a £50 million accounting black hole.
The most recent departure was that of Eric Sanderson, the company’s 52-year-old chairman, who retired in February after 17 years as a non-executive director.
The others to go have included David Jardine, finance director, Richard Carrick, global development director, Mike Lee, aviation director, and Duncan Wilson, UK chief executive.
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Michael Beckett, MyTravel’s chairman, said: “We are very grateful to Philip for his valuable contribution during this difficult time for the group, and we wish him well in his new job.”
Mr Jansen joined MyTravel in September 2002 from Telewest Communications, the cable and internet company. He was recruited as European chief executive but was promoted to group chief operating officer one month later.
He will not be replaced directly because of a restructuring of the company into British, Northern European and American units. Instead, MyTravel is hunting for someone to head its UK operation, which is being overseen by Peter McHugh, group chief executive.