Brent Hoberman, chief executive of Lastminute.com and Travelocity Europe, has stepped down from his role to take up a position of part-time chairman for the group. Hoberman, who co-founded Lastminute.com with Martha Lane-Fox, will be replaced by the current chief operating officer, Ian McCaig. The switch comes almost a year to the day since Travelocity’s…
Hoberman steps aside in Lastminute.com shake-up
Brent Hoberman, chief executive of Lastminute.com and Travelocity Europe, has stepped down from his role to take up a position of part-time chairman for the group.
Hoberman, who co-founded Lastminute.com with Martha Lane-Fox, will be replaced by the current chief operating officer, Ian McCaig.
The switch comes almost a year to the day since Travelocity’s parent company, US travel giant Sabre, bought Lastminute.com for almost £600m.
McCaig, ex-vice president for 3G operations at mobile phone group Nokia, was appointed chief operating officer in 2003.
Hoberman said: “This company has come a long way in the past eight years. It has been a tremendous journey, but there remains much to be done to consolidate and extend our position in Europe’s travel and leisure industry.
“I’m passionate about Lastminute.com and its future success and I believe my role as chairman will enable me to take a better perspective of the business and its future strategic development as a whole and support Ian as he takes the business forwards.
Hoberman is expected to spend time on “other business projects” following the move to a part-time chairman role.
“Since I co-founded lastminute.com in 1998 I haven’t seen much daylight and I feel it’s time to broaden out a little,” he said.
The new set-up is likely to see a stronger link between Lastminute.com and its new owners in the US, with McCaig reporting directly to president and chief executive of Travelocity, Michelle Peluso.
Peluso said: “As we have gone through the integration process it became clear to Brent and me that Ian is the perfect choice as CEO.
“He will do a great job leading the strong team we have in place in Europe, and at the same time, Brent will continue to make an enormous contribution to the development of the business and the brand as chairman.”
