Peter Long

Peter Long (born 4 June 1952) is an English businessman. He is the chairman of Royal Mail and Countrywide.

For the adult film star known by the pseudonym "Peter Long", see Herbert Streicher.
Peter Long
Born
Peter Long

(1952-06-04) 4 June 1952
Malta
NationalityBritish
EducationPrice's Grammar School
Occupation
Chairman, Royal Mail
Chairman, Countrywide
Spouse(s)Married
Children3 sons

Early years

Long was born in Malta, as his father was serving in the Royal Navy. He attended Price's Grammar School in Fareham, Hampshire, following which he went to further education college to qualify as an accountant.[1]

Career

Long began his career as a cost accountant at electronics firm Vernitron.[2] He then worked in finance at engineering firm Thomas Tilling before moving into the travel industry.[1] He joined Harry Goodman's International Leisure Group in 1984, rising to chief executive of the tourism division.[3] Following this, he set up Sunworld in 1991 with Spanish hotelier partners, and it was eventually sold to the Thomas Cook Group in June 1996.[2]

In November 1996, Long was appointed group managing director of First Choice Holidays PLC and became chief executive in September 1999.[4]

He was one of the architects of the 2007 consolidation in European tour operating in which First Choice Holidays merged with TUI Tourism (part of TUI AG) in September 2007 to create TUI Travel PLC, one of the largest leisure travel groups in the world.[5] Post-merger, Long grew TUI Travel's profits in sometimes challenging market conditions by offering more differentiated holiday products - hotels and activities that not available through other operators - to its customers.[6]

TUI Travel merged with TUI AG in December 2014 to form TUI Group, the world's largest tourism company. Long was joint chief executive of TUI Group, and is deputy chairman of the supervisory board.[7]

In October 2013, Long was appointed president of the Family Holiday Association, a UK-based charity which provides short breaks away from home for more than 2,000 disadvantaged families.[8] Long became chairman of Royal Mail in September 2015.[9]

In January 2018, Long who is chairman of Countrywide, replaced Alison Platt the CEO, who resigned after the company issued its second profit warning in three months, and its shares fell to an all-time low, while a successor is sought.[10]

Honours and awards
  • Medal of the Order of Isabella the Catholic for contributions to services to Spanish tourism (2009).[11]
  • Member of the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame[12] (inducted in 2001).[13]
  • Odyssey Award from the Institute of Travel and Tourism (received twice, 1998 and 2008).[14]
  • Fellow of the Tourism Society.

Personal life

Long is married, with three sons.[1]

References
  1. Reece, Damian (13 August 2005). "The Interview: A Long day's journey into the sun for the king of the package holiday world". The Independent. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  2. Davidson, Andrew. “The Andrew Davidson interview: Peter Long”, “The Sunday Times”, London, 4 October 2009.
  3. Walsh, Dominic. “Business big shot: Peter Long”, “The Times, London, 20 March 2007.
  4. Business Week "Executive Summary: Peter Long”, “BusinessWeek”, 7 February 2013.
  5. Mychasuk, Emiliya. “Peter Long”, “Financial Times”, 26 March 2008.
  6. Thomas, Natalie. “Monday Interview: TUI Travel chief Peter Long”,”The Daily Telegraph”, London, 6 January 2013.
  7. https://www.tuigroup.com/damfiles/default/tuigroup-15/en/about-us/management/lebenslauefe-en/aufsichtsrat-en/sb_curriculum-vitae-long.pdf-daa7c17c849c217a08d6c929315f765e.pdf
  8. Davies, Phil. “Tui's Peter Long takes up role as FHA president”, “Travel Weekly, London, 1 October 2013.
  9. "Peter Long: Chairman". Royal Mail Group. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  10. Monaghan, Angela (24 January 2018). "Countrywide boss resigns as shares hit new low". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  11. E-tid. "Long picks up award", London, 29 May 2009.
  12. Eastcastle Publishing. "British Travel Industry Hall of Fame" Archived 2013-08-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. Travel Weekly. Top men head for the hall of fame.
  14. Institute of Travel & Tourism. "Odyssey Award Winners".
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