Criton eyes expansion in 2020 after making two executive team appointments

New chief technology officer and sales director revealed

Hotel app developer Criton has made two executive team appointments as it looks to build on a “pivotal” year in 2019 when it launched the latest version of its platform.

Dwayne Pascal comes in as chief technology officer and Laura Sullivan-Denham has been appointed sales director.

Pascal has extensive experience in technical and product having previously worked for Vodafone, Amazon and Skyscanner.

In his new role, he will oversee Criton’s overall technology strategy, partnering with marketing and sales to drive the development and implementation of new features and services.

Laura Sullivan-Denham has experience with SaaS from her background as a company founder as well as expertise in management and sales.

Julie Grieve, founder and chief executive of Criton, said: “Last year was pivotal for us as we launched Criton 2.0, the latest addition to our guest engagement platform which allows hotels to embrace digital transformation by simplifying the process and deliver the perfect guest journey and increase guest spend.

“I am excited to start the new year welcoming Dwayne and Laura to our passionate and dedicated team. The addition of these two senior roles complements the appointment of Iain Mackay as Criton’s chair in 2019.

“Iain, Laura and Dwayne join Susan Russell, our head of marketing, and myself on the executive team, which puts us in a great position to meet our next challenges.

“This is an exciting moment for the business as we look to further expand and enter new markets in 2020”.

Pascal said: “As chief technology officer, I have the privilege of leading a fantastic team who are developing the next generation of hospitality technology.

“I am excited to lead Criton’s product development and technical solutions, and I am particularly looking forward to working with customers to really understand their problems and create innovative solutions that deliver significant impact.”

Sullivan-Denham said: “I am delighted to join Criton as Sales Director at a time of growth for the business.

“Taking new, exciting and disruptive technologies to market is what I’ve delivered for the past 20 years and I am looking forward to defining and delivering a strategy for the business that will create a scalable and repeatable sales model”.

The appointments follow the announcement of a new advisory board for Criton made up of hospitality and travel technology experts with a vast portfolio of business interests.

The Board includes Peter Lederer, former chair of luxury hotel Gleneagles and VisitScotland, Diana Easley Montador, former Microsoft executive, David Turnbull, co-founder of SnapShot and founding partner of TechTalk.Travel, Iain Mackay, former chief technology officer of All-Hotels.com, Jill Chalmers, Richard Lewis and Andrew Williams.