Having recently announced the appointment of three new business development managers (BDMs), APT & Travelmarvel has revealed that the final member of its all-new, agent-facing sales team is industry stalwart, Gary Speirs.

Glasgow-based, Speirs takes over the role of BDM north England, Scotland & Northern Ireland from today.

He joins APT & Travelmarvel from Barrhead Travel, where he spent ten years in marketing and commercial business development roles.

For the last five, Speirs specialised in river cruise sales, perfectly placing him to build on the excellent work of his predecessor, Koral Lipton.

With extensive insight into the market, he will hit the ground running, building awareness of the luxury APT and flexible Travelmarvel brands in his territories, and helping the trade to capitalise on an exciting pipeline of new products, including the MS Estrela, launching on the Douro River this summer.

Reporting into Brad Bennetts, APT & Travelmarvel head of sales and business development, Speirs will build relationships with partners, identify new business opportunities, and manage third-party retail accounts.

Welcoming Speirs, Bennetts said: “I am thrilled to announce that Gary Speirs joins us as BDM north England, Scotland & Northern Ireland.

“His appointment completes our journey to create APT & Travelmarvel’s largest ever UK sales team.

“I made no secret that my ambition was also to use our investment to create the industry’s finest resource for agents.”