Ray has spent 48 years in Information Technology, and 35 years in the travel industry. Prior to travel, Ray worked for Unilever and Grand Met (now part of Diageo), among others.
Ray began his travel career at Thomson Holidays, starting in IT and ending as Head of Marketing Technology. This was a hybrid role to fast-track technology to the marketing team. Ray is proud of his many achievements at Thomson including:
- Introducing pre-bookable seats in the 90’s
- Assembling a team, training them, then managing a summer’s bed-buying programme
- Being part of a small team that helped change Thomson’s pricing policy
- Advocating Thomson’s entry to the online world and selling via the internet
After leaving Thomson Ray co-founded Marketing Radar, along with Deb Merrifield, in 2002. Radar focusses solely on the travel industry and has built up an impressive client list over the years.
Ray has a degree in Mathematics for Business. Combining this with his passion for data he provides insight focussed on improving profitability and problem solving to his clients. As well as data, Ray loves to get involved in pricing, yield, and business and technology strategy.
Advantage are Radar’s longest standing client and Ray has worked with them from the outset. Radar carried out the first piece of work for Advantage 18 years ago and set up their first agents’ Direct Marketing programme for them in 2011. This has been operating successfully and evolving ever since.
Advantage is a very complex business when it comes to leisure marketing on behalf of so many agents. The need to protect each agent’s data is paramount. Ray does not mind admitting he had a few sleepless nights in the early days.
Radar has always been a virtual company with team members in North Wales, Yorkshire, the west, and home counties. Ray wants to take remote working to a new level this year and spend a lot of the summer working from his touring caravan.
In his spare time, when not working, Ray enjoys carrying on working!
