Customer Service Excellence

Richard joined Inspiretec in 2017 following the acquisition of his top 20 digital agency ‘Sequence’ which had established a strong pedigree in delivery transactional websites to travel and destination brands.

As Chief Commercial Officer, he is the Executive board member with strategic responsibility for the business growth. Richard leads the sales, marketing and product teams in the UK and North America to deliver business critical services to over 100 organisations in 13 countries.  

In his 25-year career he has worked with blue chip travel organisations like Abercrombie & Kent, dnata Travel, Travelopia & Visit Britain as well as household names such as Microsoft, Disney, Volkswagen, the BBC and the Cabinet Office.

As a creative technologist at heart, he prides himself on delivering products and services that work well and deliver positive customer experiences – he enjoys nothing more than helping customers leverage creative thinking and use the sensitive application of technology to transact, engage and add value.
 

Rob Bearne heads up customer service for Travelzoo in Europe, having worked in customer service for ten years. He manages the performance of Travelzoo’s customer service team and is an integral part of the holiday packaging customer service operation. A fluent German speaker, Rob lives with his wife and son in Manchester.  
 

Working with business, the media and parliamentarians, David is a passionate advocate for investing in service. Drawing on The Institute of Customer Service’s research and leveraging the strength of its member network, he evidences the vital role customer experience plays in enhancing business performance and its impact on the UK economy.

Over his 25 years in communications and marketing leadership, David’s multi-sector career includes co-founding a marketing agency (later acquired by Havas) and developing the marcomms function for a group of leadership consulting and talent businesses.
 

Kim began her career in travel in 2004 at TUI, working as Customer Service agent for their Thomson and Crystal Ski brands.
In 2013 she progressed to Customer Relations Manager at Travel Republic and took over complete control of the team, including all legal, arbitration, personal injury cases and their Crisis and Duty Office. At the beginning of 2015 she was invited to sit on the ABTA Customer and Legal Affairs Committee and has spoken at ABTA Complaint Handling seminars, Travel Law Seminars and the Travel Convention ever since.
Keen to expand her skill base she enrolled on the CILEX Legal Training Programme in 2016, awarding her with a Higher Diploma in Law in 2019. She moved her career into the luxury market within the same year, starting at Scott Dunn as their Senior Guest Relations and Legal Compliance Manager, navigating the whole pandemic until 2023 when she joined Swan Hellenic as Global Head of Guest Relations. During her time at Swan Hellenic, she has re-shaped the guest operations from the ground up and will continue to support them in offering world class service. 

Meera joined ABTA in April 2020 as a solicitor in the legal team. Prior to joining ABTA, Meera gained significant experience in membership association matters as part of the in-house team at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and as the Head of Legal Services for the National Association of Local Councils.

With over a decade of experience in Aviation Accessibility, Steve has worked across the sector — from in-airport assistance service providers to leading accessibility operations at major UK airports. Steve currently leads the Accessibility & Assisted Travel team at Jet2.com and Jet2holidays and his role involves overseeing the customer Accessibility journey — from pre-travel booking, in-airport assistance both in the UK and overseas to onboard services, and accessible transfers and accommodation