The board at Riviera Travel has appointed Phil Hullah as the new chief executive of the company, effective March 2nd.

He will succeed David Clemson, who will stay with the business as a shareholder and non-executive director.

Clemson joined Riviera in 2008 and has been instrumental in driving a transformation of the river cruise and escorted tours operator.

During this period Riviera increased revenues seven-fold and maintained a track record to 3- years of unbroken revenue growth.

Andrew Strong, chairman of Riviera, said: “On behalf of the board of directors, I want to thank David for his outstanding leadership as chief executive.

“During his tenure, the business has grown into the market leader it is today while maintaining Riviera’s culture of dedication to delivering an outstanding customer experience.”

As part of the succession plan, Phil joined Riviera in October as chief operating officer.

He has a wealth of senior leadership experience in consumer facing businesses.

Most recently he was deputy chairman of Avado, an international digital education business which he led as chief executive from 2010 to 2018.

Hullah said: “I am honoured and delighted to be taking over as chief executive.

“It’s a pleasure to be working with Riviera’s fantastic team of passionate staff.

“It’s a very exciting time for the business as we expand across all our product lines and continue to improve the customer experience.

“I look forward to working with the team to build on everything that has been achieved in recent years.”