Saga has promoted chief strategy officer Nick Stace to chief executive of its travel business, replacing Robin Shaw who left in June.
Stace will oversee Saga’s cruise and tours businesses but retain responsibility for strategy.
The company said his key focus in both the travel divisions would be “ensuring a safe return to service as soon as government restrictions on travel are lifted”.
In his current role, Stace has been leading Saga’s work with government and all other relevant authorities, to ensure provision of the best safety operating protocols for a Covid-19 world.
Before joining Saga, Stace held a series of senior leadership roles across charities, consumer-facing organisations and financial services, as well as in regulation.
He joined Saga from The Prince’s Trust where he was chief executive.
Before that, he was chief executive of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and of Choice, Australia’s largest consumer campaigner and publisher.
He started his campaigning life with Age UK, leading its work on countering age discrimination, including achieving legislation to that end. He also spent eight years at consumer group Which?, where as deputy chief executive he led successful consumer campaigns across financial services, health and education.
Stace also ran the strategic communications function for Gordon Brown when he was Prime Minister.
Until recently, he served as a board member of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and a board member of the UK Payments Systems Regulator.
Euan Sutherland, Saga Group chief executive, said: “I am delighted that Nick is moving to head our travel business after successfully driving our strategic reset. With a new strategy in place and a significantly enhanced financial position, we see a wealth of opportunities ahead of us as we position Saga to deliver sustainable growth and create significant long-term value. Nick brings a wealth of experience that will be invaluable for the next phase of development of our travel business.”
Stace said: “My number one priority in my new role is ensuring that our travel businesses are ready to provide exceptional experiences to our customers when the current restrictions are lifted. We know that the demand is there, because our customers are enthusiastically re-booking in both cruise and tours and we have worked to ensure we have detailed, industry-leading procedures ready for a Covid world.”