Travel Counsellors hires ex-Apprentice star as global sales director
A former contestant of TV show The Apprentice has been appointed global sales director at bespoke corporate and leisure travel firm Travel Counsellors.
Jim Eastwood finished as runner-up on the seventh series of BBC reality show The Apprentice in 2011, with Lord Alan Sugar referring to him as ‘the world’s greatest salesman’.
He joins Travel Counsellors from Groupon, where he was most recently the firm’s vice-president of sales for the UK and Ireland. In over five years at Groupon, he was instrumental in driving growth in its UK and Ireland business, maintaining the office as the largest market outside of the US parent.
In his new role, Eastwood will be responsible for driving Travel Counsellors’ leisure and corporate sales internationally, working across all areas of the company including marketing, business development and recruitment to identify opportunities for growth and improvement. He will also be working closely with the firm’s franchisees to continue to improve the support it offers globally.
Steve Byrne, chief executive at Travel Counsellors, said: “Jim not only has a wealth of experience and talent, but he also shares the ethos and values of the company, putting people and customers at the heart of everything. Jim also has considerable experience of working on a global scale, which will be crucial when it comes to supporting our 1,600 Travel Counsellors across the world.
“Jim will play a key part in boosting our corporate customers and continuing to develop our offering to existing customers, helping us to also maintain our strong re-book rate. I look forward to working with Jim in the coming months, and am confident that he is the ideal person to take such a key role within the company.”
Eastwood said: “What attracted me to Travel Counsellors was its overwhelming commitment to customer service, and the personal relationships that Travel Counsellors develop with their client base. The business promotes a culture of caring not only externally, but for its people, giving them the tools to provide the best service possible.
“The business has demonstrated outstanding levels of growth in recent years, and I’m hoping to be a key component in continuing to drive this in the coming months.”
