Saad Hammad
CEO
Saad joined Key Travel as Group CEO in November 2017. He brings considerable international executive and non-executive experience, both from the travel industry and other sectors.
Previously, Saad was Group CEO of Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, where he led a turnaround which in 2016 returned the business to profit for the first time since its flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 2010. From 2005 to 2009 he was Chief Commercial Officer at easyJet plc, where he was responsible for the airline’s commercial transformation. He has also been a Non-Executive Director of three international airlines in Europe, North America and Turkey.
Saad has held a number of leadership positions in private equity, third party logistics, the automotive sector, consumer goods and retailing, and was also Non-Executive Director of a London listed medical imaging technology company.
Saad grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, and is a UK national. He holds a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University and an MBA from INSEAD. He is married with two children and is a big tennis fan.
Simon Conoley
Group Finance Director
Simon, our Group Finance Director, joined the business in October 2017 as Group Financial Controller and played pivotal roles in the sale of the business from Livingbridge to Elysian Capital and the acquisition of Raptim Humanitarian Travel in 2018. Simon is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 10 years’ experience in private equity backed, dynamic businesses and has been a key part of a number of successful private equity investment cycles and exits.
Simon leads our worldwide Finance and Facilities teams encompassing Group reporting, Credit Control, Ticketing, Financial Processing and Property management.
Simon has a BA in Business Studies and a Master’s in Business Management from the University of Hull. He is married with 3 children and is a keen Manchester United supporter.
RACHEL BAXENDALE
Global Operations Director
Rachel has been with Key Travel for over 20 years and is known for her outstanding customer skills, people leadership and passion for doing the right thing.
Rachel joined Key Travel as a reservations agent and has progressed successfully through Management roles within Operations, giving her a unique insight into what is needed to successfully support our customers.
She is a graduate of Sheffield Hallam University and is married with two daughters.
Daniel Morris
Group IT Director
Daniel Morris, our Group IT Director, joined Key Travel in 2012 and has over 15 years’ experience working within IT and a specialism in Travel technology.
Daniel has held a number of roles within the IT function throughout his time at Key Travel and has benefitted greatly from Key Travel’s continued focus on investment in people. He has illustrated a strong track record of delivering key transformational projects and innovative IT solutions within the travel sector, helping Key Travel win the BTA innovation award on two separate occasions for tools developed while working at Key Travel.
As Group IT director, Daniel’s focus is on the continued development of proprietary technology whilst simultaneously leveraging market-leading external technologies.
When not working with technology, Daniel is passionate about cooking and is on a mission to make a perfect Neapolitan pizza.
Paul Green
Commercial Director, UK
Paul joined Key Travel in 2010 and has over 20 years’ experience working within the travel sector. In addition to travel management, Paul has previously held a number of senior commercial roles in the food, and logistics sectors.
Paul has won many industry awards recognising his customer interactions and team success, including the National Business Awards – Account Management of the Year. In his role, Paul is focused on developing long term strategic partnerships with customers with a focus on delivering partnership performance.
When not working with customers and our teams, Paul is passionate about restoring and improving to “factory condition” his 1964 classic Mini.
Sabrina Pabois
Commercial Director EU/Africa
Sabrina joined Key Travel in 2018, following the merger with Raptim International Travel as Country Manager for France. She has over 30 years of experience in business travel, originally starting as a travel agent servicing faith-based and humanitarian organizations in 1989.
As Commercial Director for EU/Africa, her aim is to drive growth in those markets while delivering world-class support for our existing customers.
When not working, as a French citizen with Italian roots, Sabrina is passionate about good cooking and wines – always looking for new tastes and restaurants. Her next challenge is to become a good golf player.
Mike Schields
Managing Director, North America
Mike joined Key Travel in the Summer of 2022, and brings significant senior travel sector leadership experience. He previously worked at the Legacy Travel Group where he was VP/GM, Destination America where he was CEO, and Brightspark USA where he was MD/President. His many assignments have included work in educational/student travel, groups, and faith-based travel. Most recently, Mike has been advising and consulting small businesses on how best to grow, scale, and optimize their customer and service delivery.
Mike has a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento.
As MD for North America, Mike’s main goals are to continue our growth in North America, while providing top levels of customer service and support to our existing customers.
Outside of work, Mike is a passionate baseball fan, and is married with two daughters and a border collie, which keeps him very busy.