I was still at sixth form college when I applied for a 16-hour contract in the Whitbread Contact Centre – that’s how my career with Whitbread started. It was evening shifts, weekend work and answering inbound calls when Premier Inn had around 400 hotels and only one room type.
Fast forward to now and I’m Senior TMC & OTA Manager, responsible for our indirect sales strategy across the UK, Ireland and Germany. I lead a team of six, work with some of the biggest corporate names in the world and help shape how Premier Inn shows up across global travel platforms.
What changed wasn’t just my role – it was my understanding of what a career in Sales can look like.
I can tell you how strong it is, because you rarely have to explain who we are! One of the most powerful things about selling Premier Inn is that the brand already does a lot of the work for you. Whether I’m speaking to a global travel manager or a corporate procurement lead, almost everyone already understands the product – even if they’ve only stayed with us personally.
They might not know how well positioned we are from a business travel perspective – but they know the brand. That familiarity opens doors. It means conversations move quickly from Who are you? to How do we work together? And when you combine that with scale, consistency, and location coverage, it becomes a genuinely compelling sales proposition.
From Google and Tesla to TV productions that need to home a crew and cast, the brand travels well – domestically and internationally.
It’s sales – but it’s also strategy, marketing, finance and problem-solving. My role isn’t just about closing deals. On any given week, I’ll be:
Working with Marketing on positioning and content
Reviewing ROI and channel performance with Finance
Shaping distribution strategy across OTAs and TMCs
Representing Premier Inn at global travel events
That variety is what keeps it interesting. You’ll never get bored because Sales at Whitbread isn’t siloed. You touch multiple parts of the business, which means you build commercial judgement, not just pipeline numbers.
I did actually leave – but I didn’t burn bridges. And I came back stronger.
After several years progressing through analyst and management roles, I felt that to keep growing I needed broader perspective. That meant stepping outside Whitbread for a few years.
It wasn’t a glass ceiling, particularly. It was more about widening my knowledge.
When I returned, I brought that experience back with me – and stepped into a more senior, more strategic role. Progression here isn’t always vertical. Sometimes it’s sideways. Sometimes it’s outside your normal field of expertise. But the door stays open if you build relationships and keep learning.
Opportunity doesn’t just land in your lap. You still have to push yourself. Yes, Whitbread is supportive. Yes it’s inclusive. People genuinely want you to succeed. But that can also make it easy to get comfortable.
You still have to want it. You still have to chase progression. For me, leading the TMC & OTA function and setting its direction has been the biggest achievement so far – not because it was handed to me, but because I had to step forward and claim it.
And the reason I’ve stayed (and come back) is simple: If you’ve got ambition, and you’re open to learning, there’s a role for you here – somewhere.
Sales is just one entry point. The scale of the business means your career doesn’t have to stop at one function, one title, or one version of success.
I didn’t map this career out at 16. But I kept saying yes to opportunities, stayed curious, and didn’t assume progression had to look one specific way.
And I’m not done yet.