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With a real passion for the travel industry, Garry shares his career story to date, his advice for current students and alumni, and the importance of building a great team around you.

Can you tell us about your career path since graduating?

Upon graduating in the mid 1990s, I joined the Nestlé international graduate scheme in sales and marketing and very early on, I got a taste for travelling.

A year later, when a role came up for an overseas buyer position at Thomson holidays, effectively managing the commercial hotel relationships in their holidays destinations, I knew that this was the direction I wanted to go in as it would allow me to see the world, experience new cultures and have a truly international outlook.

Since that move I haven't looked back and I have an absolute passion for the industry which has stayed with me from day one.

Over the course of a few decades, I have held several commercial and operational roles at TUI Group, before becoming the Managing Director for Group Product and Purchasing, leading the commercial strategy. This involved leading a large international team across the world, and managing an annual budget in excess of €5bn.

In 2018, when I was approached to join easyJet as Chief Executive Officer of its holiday division, I immediately jumped at the chance. I saw an opportunity to create a serious player in the holiday market and to be part of a brand which is loved by millions, as well as having an enviable position in the industry.

I was fortunate to be able to build from the ground up, creating a fantastic team and network of partners across Europe, with the benefit of the association to easyJet driving strong brand recognition and offering the opportunity to convert customers who already trust and are loyal to the airline.

I’m incredibly proud of the business we’ve built and the fantastic team behind it who works tirelessly, and with so much passion, towards helping make it a success. Travel and tourism really is a unique and special industry full of brilliant, creative and resilient people – as the past few years in particular have shown!

What advice would you give to current students and recent graduates taking their first steps in their career?

Be proactive and make a concerted effort to learn from those around you. With hybrid working becoming the norm there are perhaps now fewer opportunities to learn by osmosis, which for so many is key to developing during the early years of their career.

Make connections, invite feedback and learn about all the areas of the business you work in, not just your department, and put your hand up for every opportunity that comes your way. You will thank yourself later down the line.

What do you wish someone has said to you back when you graduated?

Being open to change and always being the solution to a problem is the key to progression. It’s something I had to teach myself early on in my career. By being ultra-flexible and leveraging my knowledge and experience to support others, I was given increased responsibilities, exciting challenges and incredible opportunities to build the career I’m very fortunate to have had.

It's also important to remember that your career will span more than three decades in most cases, so make sure you work in a sector or industry that excites you and where you feel you can make a unique contribution.

We don't always get career choices right first time, and if it doesn't feel right for you then be bold and make the move to something you truly love, because when you work with passion, it's infectious, and it will allow your career to soar.

How would you describe your leadership style and has it changed over the years?

I’m a firm believer that leaders are only as good as the people around them. I’m lucky to have spent my career surrounded by brilliant teams and this has allowed me to adopt a democratic leadership style.

I always adopt the principle of building teams made up of people who will bring a different perspective than me, and have greater skills than me in certain disciplines.

As I’ve progressed throughout my career of course I’ve had to start pace-setting more, and with the challenges of the last few years and building a brand-new business, my focus has now become more on articulating our strategy to everyone who works in the company and equipping them with the skills to succeed. For me though, the magic happens when plans are made by actively involving the people being led and everyone feeling that they are making a unique contribution to the success of our business.

Read more about Garry’s role as CEO of easyJet holidays, how they navigated the pandemic just a few months after launching and how they are aiming to lead the way in making sustainable holidays mainstream.