Agency Appointments  

Full-service communications agency Worldspan has announced a new Head of Business Development, Sheila Evans. Evans has worked in the industry for 25 years and spent 20 years as Director of Global Accounts with Hilton Worldwide in the United States.

Evans' focus at Worldspan will be driving strategic growth in core business segments, particularly working to expand the agency’s client base across the UK, EU, and US markets. Evans will operate from Worldspan’s newly expanded Dublin office.

Conference Leeds has appointed Carine Mills as their Business Development Manager.

Conference Leeds’ is the city's official convention centre. Mills will work to identify and attract national and international conferences to the city with a view to strengthening the wider visitor economy. 

She said: 'It’s exciting to be moving into the next chapter of my conference and events career. Today organisers have a great commitment to sustainability, equality, and social responsibility, which has made my passion even greater for a role within the conference and event industry. Conference Leeds is a fantastic conferencing bureau with a real focus on growing the local economy by bringing businesses and professionals to the city to further benefit the broader community.'

Technology platform Travel Counsellors For Business has announced two new appointments, Ricky Gudgeon and Athenee Graham.

Senior Business Development Manager Athenee joins the company following a ten-year tenure at Corporate Travel Management and Newland Chase in senior sales roles.  Business Development Manager Ricky’s previous role at Corporate Travel Management followed a decade-long career at Corporate Traveller USA.

The new hires join the company’s corporate sales and business development team, run by Wayne Durkin.

Acquisitions

Brand experience agency Strata has acquired Element London, the incentive prize agency based in the capital, but with a global presence.

Supported by investment from Ethos Partners, the acquisition is the latest by Strata, following 18 months of growth and market expansion. 

Strata’s CEO, Simon Hambley, said: 'Partnering with Element and adding them to the growing Strata Group is another important step in our journey to reach our destination as the leading brand experience agency in the global events industry. Element has an incredibly talented team who leaders in their field, so to bring them within the Strata family – at such an important juncture – is incredibly exciting.'

Element has an established network across Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. Experiential events agency Trivandi has acquired sustainability consultancy leaders The Bulb. The Bulb’s team will establish a dedicated sustainability business within Trivandi, embedding sustainability into every phase of project delivery.  

Co-founder and CEO of Trivandi, James Bulley, said: 'By uniting The Bulb’s award-winning ESG model with Trivandi’s proven strategy, design and delivery expertise, we will raise the bar for sustainability standards across the events, venues, destinations, and organisations we serve.'

New publicationsLime Venue Portfolio has announced the launch of a series of practical guides to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) event planning. 

The guides will be launched over the next 12 months, with each part focusing on one letter of the ESG acronym. ‘E’ will be released at Event Sustainability Live, with ‘S’ following on in the spring at International Confex. Meanwhile, ‘G’ will launch at The Meetings Show.

Previous guides published by the brand, Beyond Food, and Meeting of the Future, have won awards. 

Business routes Direct Air Canada flight between Ottawa and London Heathrow to finally return

Air Canada's direct flight service between London Heathrow (LHR) and Ottawa (YOW) is finally returning, to coincide with IBTM 2024. 

After a four-year hiatus due to COVID, the service will resume in March 2025. Ottawa Tourism hopes it will 'further strengthen Ottawa’s connections to London, Europe, and beyond'. 

The flights will run as follows: 

Flight AC889 London Heathrow (LHR) – Ottawa (YOW):

• Mondays and Thursdays 14:05, arriving 16:35
• Wednesdays and Saturdays at 12:40, arriving at 15:20 

Flight AC888 Ottawa (YOW) – London Heathrow (LHR):

• Mondays and Thursdays at 18:40, arriving at 06:30 the next day
• Wednesday and Saturdays at 20:55, arriving 08:35 the next day