Criton announces CTO and sales director appointments
UK: Travel tech firm Criton has announced the appointment of Dwayne Pascal as its chief technology officer and Laura Sullivan-Denham as sales director.
Pascal brings a wealth of experience in the technical and product fields from his previous positions at Vodafone, Amazon and Skyscanner. In his new role, he will oversee the company’s overall technology strategy, partnering with the marketing and sales departments to drive the development and implementation of new features and services, keeping both guests’ and hoteliers’ needs at the heart of the product.
As sales director, Laura Sullivan-Denham brings a wealth of knowledge in the sale of technology products, including SAAS [software-as-a-service] platforms. Her background as a company founder and expertise in management and sales roles will be crucial to implement Criton’s growth plans in 2020.
Criton founder and CEO, Julie Grieve, 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,” she added.
Criton is the team that launched travel app Pip in October 2018, which caters specifically to self-catering accommodation providers, such as holiday homes, cottages, lodges, Airbnbs, villas and apartments. The app aims to create a personal connection with guests to ensure they have the best possible stay and answers all of their questions about accommodation and local recommendations.
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.”
These appointments quickly 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 CTO of All-Hotels.com, Jill Chalmers, Richard Lewis and Andrew Williams.
For more information, visit the Criton website here.
