Media Release

18th April 2012

Corporate Traveller Boss Named Young Manager of the Year

Graeme Milne, UK general manager of Corporate Traveller has been named Young Manager of the Year in the British Travel & Hospitality Hall of Fame 2012 awards. The award is aimed specifically at the travel industry's stars of tomorrow aged 35 years or younger.

The Young Manager of the Year Award is presented to an individual in recognition of their outstanding achievement as a young business leader contributing to the development of the travel industry. Assessment criteria include evidence of business performance over the last three years, strategic analysis, people management skills, customer focus, managing change and specific achievements in 2011. The process involved preparation of a 1000 word document addressing these criteria, followed by an interview with the judging panel.

Graeme Milne’s career at parent company Flight Centre Limited began in 2003 as a business development manager for Corporate Traveller, which at the time was a niche business travel management company. In 2005 Flight Centre merged Corporate Traveller with its newly launched flagship global business travel division, FCm Travel Solutions and Milne was promoted to head of UK sales for FCm. Over the next five years Milne was responsible for growing FCm’s new business sales by around 25 per cent per annum and increasing annual signed business from £20m to £130m.

In January 2010, after a successful five years under the FCm banner, where business became a mix of SME and multinational clients, Flight Centre decided to re-launch Corporate Traveller to focus purely on SME corporate business. Milne was appointed sales director and one year later promoted to general manager. In both roles he has been instrumental in Corporate Traveller’s phenomenal growth story. Corporate Traveller ended its first full financial year on 30 June 2011 having grown turnover by 30 per cent to reach £150 million. In the last 12 months alone, Corporate Traveller has also won new business in the region of £80 million.

Chris Galanty, Flight Centre Group’s UK managing director said: “Graeme truly deserves to win this award. His achievements within our company structure have been outstanding. He played a vital role firstly in developing the FCm global brand in the UK when he was head of sales, and has subsequently applied his dynamic and motivational approach to spearheading the rapid growth of Corporate Traveller. Congratulations!”

Graeme Milne said: “I am thrilled and honoured to receive this award. Corporate Traveller’s rapid growth over the last two years has been exciting and challenging and I have enjoyed being a part of that. However I must also give credit to the sales team, our account managers and my senior management team because without their dedication and expertise Corporate Traveller would not be where it is today.”

Graeme Milne received his award at a glittering ceremony held at the Savoy Hotel on Tuesday 17th April.