We have brought together talent from across the travel, food, retail and other complementary industries to deliver world-leading operational and business excellence. From our general managers on the ground to our board directors, our management are some of the most experienced specialists in the business; a truly international team of Food Travel Experts.
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.
Jonathan has been the Chief Financial Officer of SSP since its formation within Compass Group in 2004. Jonathan brings extensive financial experience to SSP and has spent over thirty years working within retail and FMCG companies.
Jonathan began his career in Unilever plc’s management development programme before joining OC&C, the strategic management consultancy, as a start up in 1987, where he was part of its rapid growth and development to become a leading international consulting firm. From 1995 to 2004 Jonathan worked for Safeway plc, where he was Finance Director on its Executive Board between 1999 and 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 Business School, France.
Jeremy Fennell became CEO of the Nordics region 1 October 2019, having joined SSP from Dixons Carphone, the leading multichannel consumer electricals retailer with over £10bn revenue and 42,000 employees. Jeremy spent four years as Managing Director of Carphone Warehouse, the UK’s largest independent mobile phone retailer, and was also responsible for Dixons Travel, the market leading electronics travel retailer in the UK, Ireland and Nordics.
Prior to this, Jeremy led the Dixons eCommerce business where he developed the multichannel offer for Currys PCWorld, and also has experience working in the Nordics region, as Category Director of market leader Elkjøp, with more than 400 stores in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.
Jeremy took additional responsibility for SSP’s EEME business in October 2020.
Mark is currently CEO of SSP’s Asia Pacific region which covers Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and India. He joined SSP in February 2012 as Chief Executive Officer of its UK and Ireland division and in April 2014 he was appointed Chief Commercial Officer for the SSP Group and later CEO, SSP EEME.
Mark began his career in merchant banking with Schroders before moving into the FMCG pharmaceutical sector, working at ICI (now Astra-Zeneca) and Colgate-Palmolive in a variety of international marketing and then management positions. Mark then joined Greene King Pub Company as Managing Director and was a board member of Greene King PLC before spending four years as Chief Executive Officer of PizzaExpress Restaurants.
Mark holds a degree in modern languages from Cambridge University.
With 25 years’ experience in the food and beverage industry and with SSP America since 2014 as Chief Executive Officer, Michael Svagdis leads a talented team driven by an unparalleled passion for bringing cool, authentic restaurants to airports that reflect a taste of place. Michael’s tenure is marked by his ability to assemble a world-class executive team who have collectively driven dramatic corporate growth of 300% in annual revenues since Michael joined SSP America. The team simultaneously developed a unique corporate culture based on a set of highly embraced principles. Called the PASSION Principles, the Principles were imparted to each manager and employee during a continent-wide effort to unite the company around one set of ideals. The result has been a dramatic decrease in employee turnover and increased employee satisfaction.
Oliver joined SSP in July 2017 as CEO of DACH & FRABEL, and took over additional responsibility for Spain in 2019. Prior to this, he was CCO of TUI Deutschland for five years and responsible for the DACH region as well as Poland – a five-billion-euro business with a portfolio of over 40 brands. He also headed the commercial activities of the TUIfly airline, which had a fleet of 42 aircrafts.
He has considerable experience leading brand portfolios, optimising yields, improving efficiency and gaining market share – all whilst ensuring a quality customer offering. Under his leadership, he introduced differentiated travel offers and led the digitalisation of the business model with various innovations, such as an app which linked customers directly to hotels and airlines.
Richard Lewis joined SSP in September 2019 from Greene King plc where he was Chief Operating Officer, leading 40,000 team members at the company’s c. 1,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels. Prior to this, Richard held a number of different leadership positions at Greene King over the eight years at the company, including Group Property Director, and Group Integration Director, where he led the integration of the Greene King and the acquired Spirit business in 2017, as well as various MD roles within the business. Richard also has significant international experience, having worked for seven years in New Zealand and managed a Sourcing Office in China. Richard was COO of the Warehouse, New Zealand’s largest non-food retail group, where he contributed to the modernisation and turnaround of the business and opened Australasia’s first hypermarkets. Before that, he held a variety of operational and commercial roles at both Sainsbury’s and Woolworths in the UK.
Helen joined SSP Group as General Counsel and Company Secretary in March 2007, and leads the Group legal team which she formed following her arrival at SSP.
Helen is a solicitor and has extensive experience in providing commercial legal advice at board and group-wide level, having previously been company secretary and general counsel for Gullane Entertainment (formerly The Britt Allcroft Company) and HIT Entertainment.
Helen holds a degree in law from Exeter University.
Rachel joined SSP in November 2015 as Group HR Director, with additional responsibility for HR for the UK and Ireland division and Corporate Communications for SSP Group. In August 2018, she was appointed MD of our rail and air business in the Netherlands.
Rachel began her career as an Officer in the Royal Air Force, specialising in logistics and serving in the Gulf war. She made the move to FMCG joining PepsiCo as an Area Sales and Marketing Manager and then on into the Retail sector joining Tesco, initially in fresh food. Rachel has held a variety of Operational and then HR Director roles both in the UK and internationally.
Across SSP Group, she is focused on championing change, finding and developing the most talented people, and creating a culture where colleagues can deliver their best for customers.
Sukh started his career in Granada Group, progressing to Finance Director of Granada Purchasing in 1995. In 1997 he was appointed Finance and Commercial Director, managing £500 million of spend per annum. Following the merger of Granada Group and Compass Group, he was then appointed Managing Director of Compass Purchasing in 2002, managing £1 billion of spend per annum, and joined the Compass UK Board.
In 2004 Sukh was appointed Group Commercial Director of SSP Group. Sukh’s core responsibilities include purchasing, cost management and supply chain as well as leading key commercial negotiations across major SSP territories.
Sukh is a qualified CIMA Accountant and holds a MBA from Oxford Brookes University.
