BBT HOTLIST 2020
WORDS MOLLY DYSON
MATTHEW HOLMAN MATTHEW HOLMAN IS THE FOUNDER of Simpila Healthy Solutions, which he set up in 2016 following a 20-year career in a wide range of senior and executive leadership roles across global corporate businesses, including the business travel sector. Holman says he formed Simpila following his own personal mental health challenges, and that his mission is to raise awareness of mental health and help support those who are struggling. In 2019, Holman forged partnerships with several TMCs and associations to put in place structured training, and spoke at many industry conferences – twice at BBT Forums – to encourage others to openly discuss the effects business travel can have. He is also a Mental Health First Aid trainer and a Samaritan listening volunteer. More than an influencer, Holman is someone who has inspired countless others and elevated mental health as an urgent matter within commercial organisations.
SUZANNE HORNER HORNER HAS BEEN AT THE HELM of Gray Dawes Group (GDG) since 2011, notably steering it through several TMC acquisitions over the past couple of years, including Amber Road, Giles Travel and ctm Travel Management. Behind her chief executive position at GDG, there’s an extensive travel industry CV, with previous roles at Expedia, Norwegian Cruise Line, British Airways and Airtours. However, in the past few months Horner has joined the BTA as chair and aims to shake up what she once perceived as an “old boys club”, and more recently has taken a seat on the board at the Advantage Travel Partnership following an Outstanding Achievement Award from the consortium in 2018. Meanwhile, in December Horner was named one of Business Travel News’ “25 Most Influential
People in Business Travel”. All eyes will be on her as ongoing consolidation in the TMC sector continues apace.
CACTUS CACTUS IS SHORT FOR the not-very-catchy “Climate Action for Corporate Travel Urgent Sustainability” – an event series based around how the business travel sector can address environmental challenges. It was set up by Helen Hodgkinson (pictured), Diners Club’s Lee Jackson and Festive Road’s
Paul Tilstone – who coined the acronym at the inaugural meeting last year as it’s a “prickly” subject. At the event, travel buyers from World Wide Fund for Nature, Microsoft and Barclays shared what they were doing to track and reduce carbon emissions. While there’s a lot of noise around this topic, CACTUS aims to stand out with “science-based dialogue”, according to Hodgkinson. She told BBT: “We envisaged it would be a small informal working group to start with but there was an immediate groundswell of interest from so many people who wanted to make a difference… we ended up with over 60 delegates in attendance at the first summit.”
ROXANA BRESSY IN 2016, AMEX GBT acquired Paris-based technology company KDS and its flagship SaaS product, Neo. In the same year, Roxana Bressy was appointed as KDS’s chief executive after five years as its executive vice-president of operations. Bressy’s work was key to the successful acquisition by GBT, and her commitment to customer-centric innovation has continued to drive the company’s success. Under her leadership, Neo has achieved several industry-first milestones and she has also championed a Neo-bred start-up within GBT that will launch in the UK in 2020. A native of Iran, Bressy had to start her career path by fleeing the aftermath of the revolution. While waiting for US visas in France, she learned French, started university and ultimately decided to make the country her home. This experience helped forge her ambitious, decisive character – invaluable for motivating her teams through the significant change of acquisition, and recognised by industry leaders for establishing Neo as a key industry innovator and driver of change.
90 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
buyingbusinesstravel.com
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