THE PEOPLE AWARDS
A real rising star Katie Skitterall of APTI
In May last year Katie Skitterall, of travel management company ATPI, was named the winner of the Rising Star category at the business travel industry's inaugural People Awards
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Katie’s early career was in leisure travel for Thomas Cook. In 2002 she joined Seaforths Travel which, after merging with Ayscough Travel, became the ATPI Group. Initially working as a travel consultant, she was promoted to manage and develop e-commerce. Now a fully established and
successful department within the group, it delivers online booking tools for all markets, improves online adoption rates and the user experience through online profi ling and dashboard technology. As the e-commerce department continued to grow, Katie moved into a full implementation manager role, responsible for online and offl ine delivery. Katie now works alongside ATPI’s UK
operations manager and is responsible for UK operations, client services, training and the specialist fares unit.
t is one of the proudest moments of my career, it really is,” says Katie Skitterall of her People Award – the Rising Star - bestowed upon her in May last year.
A highly experienced panel of judges rated her “determination and ability to continually learn and deepen their knowledge of our industry whilst at the same time leading, motivating and supporting colleagues around them.”
She reckons they’re spot on. “That sums me up. It’s true; my ambition and determination are key, so too the people around me,” she says.
For the last two years she has been assistant UK
operations manager at ATPI, managing around 300 staff across the UK together with her UK operations director Jenny Hansen. “My heart has always been in operations and
ops is where I want to be,” says Katie, adding that, “Ultimately, I want Jenny’s job and to get involved with overseas too.” It was her boss Jenny who nominated her for the
award, having watched her grow from her early days as a consultant. Katie has been with ATPI for ten years, moving around all parts of the business. Prior to her current role Katie was implementation manager, a position that evolved from the commerce department. Her career in travel began in the leisure side
of the travel business, with AT Mays, and Katie believes it put her in good stead. “You pick up on good customer service in a face-to-face situation,”
she says. “I found business travel really different but it is the best decision I made. “I like the client base and interaction with them,
working with them to make savings. Every day is different whereas retail leisure can be quite repetitive,” says Katie. “I love that we can drive change, review work
and implement and change things,” she explains. “Travel is a fun industry. Every day is different; that’s what I love about it,” she says. Katie singles out
a positive attitude as being one of her strongest attributes. ”I don’t see problems – just things I can do better,” she says. Communication, teamwork and gaining support from people around her she also named among her attributes. Her advice to others
starting out in the business is simple: “You need to visualise where you want to be in the future and then follow your dreams.”
16 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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