Carol Hui, Robin Frewer, Peter Gowers, Karin Sheppard appointed as Board Members of the British Tourism Authority
The Secretary of State has appointed Carol Hui, Robin Frewer, Peter Gowers, Karin Sheppard as Board Members to the BTA for 5 years from 6th January 2020 to 5th January 2025.
Carol Hui is the Non-Executive Chairman of Robert Walters plc, a global recruitment consultancy operating in 30 countries. She is a seasoned Non-Executive Director and has served on various boards, audit committees and remuneration committees in infrastructure, University and charitable sectors. Carol is an Executive Board Director and the Chief of Staff and General Counsel of Heathrow Airport Limited. She is Chairman of the Risk and Assurance Committee and the Charities and Communities Committee at Heathrow. Carol has been a senior executive and board director in oil and gas, transport, logistics, and infrastructure services industries and was originally a corporate finance lawyer with the City firm, Slaughter and May. She was appointed by the Financial Reporting Council last year to the Sounding Board for Sir James Wates’s governance review of large private businesses. Carol has also been a Prime Ministerial appointee on the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Review Body. She has received numerous awards including Chinese Business Leader Award and FT Innovative Lawyer. In October 2019, she was recognised as one of the influential Women to Watch in the Hotels, Travel and Leisure Index.
Robin Frewer is currently the Commercial Director for Travel at Google across the EMEA region. He has led the Travel sector at Google for over 13 years, and has also gained experience running the Financial Services and Gambing sectors. During the last 13 years he has helped many leading Travel companies transform their businesses, and helped them to become best in class in digital marketing and online customer acquisition.
Robin has over 30 years experience working in various businesses across the Travel industry. Prior to working at Google Robin held senior level positions at the Opodo Group, First Choice Holidays and also with the TUI group.
Robin is currently also a non Executive Director of Eviivo, an award winning business producing software for B&Bs, Hotels, Apartments and Vacation rentals.
Peter Gowers is an experienced travel and leisure executive, with prior leadership roles in both public and private businesses in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He is currently the Chief Executive of Travelodge. Travelodge is the UK’s largest privately held hotel group, with a portfolio of more than 500 hotels, employing more than 10,000 colleagues. Prior to joining Travelodge, Peter served successively as Head of Strategy, Group Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Executive, Asia-Pacific, for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) plc; and as Chief Executive of the Anglo-French Real Estate Investment Trust, Safestore Holdings plc. His early career was spent with the corporate finance group of the international management consultancy Arthur D.Little, before joining the strategic planning team of the UK brewing, pubs & restaurants and hotels conglomerate, Bass plc. He holds a first class degree in Law from Keble College, Oxford University.
Karin Sheppard is IHG’s SVP, Managing Director for Europe, responsible for driving the performance, sustainable growth and reputation of IHG’s European business. Karin oversees more than 750 franchised and managed hotels in 39 countries, including over 350 hotels in the UK. Karin is also a member of IHGs Regional Senior Leadership Team for Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa. In her previous role as Chief Operating Officer of Australasia & Japan based in Sydney, Karin led the operations and performance of IHG’s hotels in the region. She held board member positions of both Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) and the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF). Over the course of her 18 years with IHG, Karin has held several senior roles spanning commercial, operations and brand development. Previous appointments include Chief Commercial Officer for Asia, Middle East & Africa based in Singapore, and Vice President, Brand Management EMEA. During her time in Europe she also represented IHG on several IHG Owner Association Boards. Karin has over 25 years of international experience in commercial functions across a variety of industries, including technology, telecommunications and hospitality. Karin holds a Master Degree in International Business Administration with Modern Languages, from Aarhus School of Business, Denmark.
These roles are remunerated at £3,840 per annum. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Neither Ms Hui, Mr Frewer, or Ms Sheppard have declared any activity. Mr Gowers has declared that he has made recordable donations to the Conservative Party.