The chief financial officer of听listed online travel agent听On the Beach has resigned听after revenue fell two-thirds in the first half听of the year听due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul Meehan,听who replaced previous CFO Wendy Parry when she retired,听will听depart听on July 17th听to 鈥榩ursue other business听interests鈥�.
The Cheadle-headquartered听firm said that summer bookings听had been听up 29 per cent听following the collapse of听Thomas Cook. However the arrival of coronavirus curtailed听new bookings and led to a raft of cancellations, resulting in a 66 per cent听drop in听Q1 revenue to 拢21.4m.
Profit before tax fell 拢13.4m to 拢2.3m, with the group estimating that the pandemic has cost it听拢34.7m so far.
Shaun Morton, the听group’s听director of听finance, will be promoted to听the CFO听role听and听join the听board as a听director听when Meehan departs.听听
惭辞谤迟辞苍听joined in February 2018听补蹿迟别谤听holding听senior finance roles at Deloitte, Asda and听Ghd Hair.听
Working听alongside听Meehan听at On the Beach, he was听heavily involved in dealing with the failure听of Thomas Cook, the acquisition of Classic Collection and the delivery of the听group’s recent听拢67m听share placing and听拢25m听CLBILS facility.听
鈥淚 have very much enjoyed my time with On the Beach and feel that now is the right time to concentrate on and pursue other business interests,鈥� said Meehan.听听
鈥淚 have worked closely with Shaun since he joined the group and I believe he is well-placed to take over the CFO role and deliver on the next phase of OTB’s growth.鈥澨�听
CEO听Simon Cooper听said:听“I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the听board, to thank Paul for his three and a half years with On the Beach, during which time we have successfully completed two acquisitions and, most recently, a 拢67m placing of new shares.听I wish him all the best with his future endeavours.听
“I would also like to congratulate Shaun to his new CFO role.听Shaun has a built a strong understanding of the online travel industry since joining the听group and I look forward to working with him as we deliver on the听group’s strategy to become Europe’s leading online retailer of beach holidays.”听
Coronavirus