Hare takes over as new Portman ceo

Flack to stay on for at least a year 

Michael Hare has taken over as the new ceo of Portman Travel, one of the biggest independent  travel management companies in the UK.

The previous ceo Graham Flack, whose family has been associated with the TMCTravel Management Company: An agency which manages business travel for a company. for 50 years, will stay on with the firm for at least 12 months.

Mr Hare joined Portman when his previous TMC Fleet Street Travel, where he was managing director, was bought by Portman in February 2008.

He has since served as chief operating officer for Portman overseeing IT and operations.

Mr Hare, who also takes over as chairman of the UK Guild of Travel Management Companies in January, will keep those two responsibilities in his new role.

As yet no one has been appointed to be the new coo.

Mr Flack had indicated to the company that he wished to stand down by 2010.

He will oversee any new acquisitions the company might make and will stay on the board of Radius, a global network of TMCs of which Portman is a member.

Portman, which has offices in London, Glasgow, Ireland and the Netherlands, has an annual  turnover of around £400m.

Its parent company is Portman Group Holdings and it is supported in its strategy by private equity firm Vision Capital.

www.portmantravel.com