Our PLC Board
SSP has brought together a Board of Directors who are highly experienced within the travel food and beverage market and the broader retail industry.
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Vagn Sørensen
Chairman
Vagn is a Senior Industrial Advisor with EQT Partners and joined the SSP board as Chairman in June 2006. He is currently Chairman of Air Canada as well as a non-executive director of Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited. In addition, Vagn is a consultant Senior Adviser to Morgan Stanley in the Nordic region.
He was previously the President and Chief Executive Officer of Austrian Airlines Group from 2001 to 2006 and held various senior commercial positions and served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer with SAS Scandinavian Airlines System. Vagn has served as the Chairman of the Association of European Airlines and as a member of the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association as well as a non-executive director of Lufthansa Cargo AG.He holds a Master of Economics from Aarhus Business School in Denmark.
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Simon Smith
Chief Executive Officer - SSP
Simon joined SSP as CEO of the UK and Ireland region in 2014. In addition to running the UK, his role has broadened internationally, and he has taken full responsibility for the integration and development of our JV in India, Travel Food Services, which has been our largest acquisition to date.
Before joining SSP, Simon was at WH Smith for ten years, most recently as managing director of WHSmith’s travel division. During his tenure, the travel division expanded to more than 20 new international markets across Europe, India, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Simon has more than 20 years of experience in the retail and catering sectors, having begun his career at Fenwicks before moving to Allders Department Stores and then Safeway, where he worked in both commercial and marketing roles. He joined the travel division of WHSmith in 2004 and held the roles of trading director and chief operating officer before his promotion to managing director.
Simon holds a first class Economics honours degree from Leeds University.
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Jonathan Davies
Chief Financial Officer
Jonathan has been the Chief Financial Officer of SSP since its formation within Compass Group in 2004.
Jonathan began his career in the food industry in Unilever plc’s management development programme. In 1987 Jonathan joined OC&C, the strategic management consultancy, where he was part of its rapid growth from a start-up to a leading international consulting firm for eight years. From 1995 to 2004 Jonathan worked for Safeway PLC, where he was Finance Director on the Executive Board from 1999 to 2004.
Jonathan is a Non-Executive Director of Assura plc, where he is Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee.
He holds a degree in Chemistry from Oxford University and an MBA from INSEAD, France.
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Ian Dyson
Independent Non-Executive Director
Ian joined the SSP Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director in April 2014. Ian brings significant financial and business experience to the Board.
Ian was formerly Chief Executive Officer (and then Non-Executive Director) of Punch Taverns plc, Chief Executive Officer of Spirit Pub Company plc, Group Finance & Operations Director at Marks & Spencer Group plc and Finance Director of The Rank Group plc. Prior to this he was Group Financial Controller of Hilton International Co. He joined Hilton from Le Meridien, a division of Forte Group plc, where he had been Finance Director. Ian has also been a Non-Executive Director of Misys plc.
His early career was spent with Arthur Andersen where he was promoted to partner of the firm in 1994.
Ian is Senior Independent Director of Flutter Entertainment plc (previously known as Paddy Power Betfair plc) and ASOS plc, and a Non-Executive Director of Intercontinental Hotels Group plc. Ian is also Chairman of the Audit Committee of both ASOS plc and Intercontinental Hotels Group plc.
Ian qualified as a chartered accountant in 1986.
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Per Utnegaard
Independent Non-Executive Director
Per joined SSP as an independent non-executive director in July 2015.
Per also serves as a member of the Board’s Remuneration and Audit Committees of SSP Group Board. He has been Chairman of the Executive Board of Bilfinger SE with effect from 1 June 2015. His previous roles include President and CEO of Swissport International Ltd., Group Wholesale Director and a member of the Group Board at Alliance Unichem plc, Senior Vice President, Corporate Business Development at Danzas Holding Ltd. (a subsidiary of Deutsche Post AG), and various senior positions at TNT Post Group.
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Carolyn Bradley
Independent Non-Executive Director
Carolyn joined SSP as an independent non-executive director in October 2018.
Carolyn serves on the Remuneration, Nomination and Audit Committees of SSP’s Group Board. She is also a non-executive director of Legal and General Group plc, Majid Al Futtaim Retail LLC, Marston’s PLC (Senior Independent Director) and The Mentoring Foundation. Carolyn currently serves on the Remuneration, Nomination and Audit Committees of Marston’s PLC and the Remuneration and Nomination Committees of Legal and General Group plc. Carolyn spent over 25 years at Tesco, holding a number of roles including Chief Operating Officer for Tesco.com, Commercial Director for Tesco Stores and Tesco UK Marketing Director, before being appointed Group Brand Director in 2012. She is a trustee and Deputy Chairman of Cancer Research UK and a member of the Advisory Board of Cambridge Judge Business School.
Carolyn graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MA in English Literature.
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Mike Clasper
Chairman Designate, Non-Executive Director
Mike joined the SSP Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 November 2019. Mike has served on boards across a wide range of businesses. He brings significant and relevant experience, in particular an expertise in the airport and aviation services industries following his time as Chief Executive of BAA plc.
Mike has held various senior executive positions including Chief Executive Officer of BAA plc, Operational Managing Director of Terra Firma Capital Partners Limited and President (Global Home Care & New Business Development) of the Procter & Gamble Limited. In addition, Mike has held various non-executive roles including Chairman of HM Revenue & Customs and Which? Limited and Senior Independent Director of Serco Group plc and ITV plc.
Mike is currently Chairman of Chairman of Coats Group plc and Chairman of Bioss International Ltd. Mike is also a Trustee of Heart Cells Foundation, a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and an Advisory Board member for Arora International.
Mike graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MA in Engineering.
