Head of Trade Sales

HR and Training Manager at Premier Travel Group

Job Title:

Head of Trade Sales

Reports To:

Managing Director
Direct Reports: 3 x Business Development Managers
Based:
Hybrid role (3 days working in Cambourne head office, 2 days working from home)
Salary:
Competitive, dependent on experience plus annual profit share and trade sales performance related bonuses

At Premier Holidays, our ambition is bold: to be the UK’s go-to specialist in the trade for tailor-made long-haul experiences while remaining the trusted market leader for holidays to the Channel Islands. Proudly established 90 years ago, we continue to grow, evolve, and deliver exceptional service to our agent partners, something we couldn’t achieve without the talent and dedication of our people.

With the forthcoming retirement of our long-standing Sales and Marketing Director, we are seeking an inspiring, commercially minded leader to take the reins of our UK Trade Sales function. This is a rare opportunity to lead a high-performing field sales team and shape the future of Premier Holidays’ trade strategy.

The Head of Trade Sales will be responsible for driving the overall sales strategy for Premier Holidays across the UK trade market. This includes leading and developing a team of three Business Development Managers, managing sales performance across all regions, providing strategic direction, and ensuring strong alignment between field activity, digital channels, product priorities, and wider business goals.

The role holder will nurture key trade relationships, represent Premier Holidays at a senior level across the industry, and play a critical role in ensuring the company maintains and grows its position as a trusted long-haul specialist and the market leader for Channel Islands holidays.

The role requires some travel to include relevant attendance at industry events, agency meetings, conferences, training sessions, and occasional overseas trips.

• Lead, motivate, and develop the team of three Business Development Managers.
• Establish KPIs and monitor performance to drive team and business growth.
• Oversee regional sales plans and ensure consistent high standards of delivery are met across all territories.
• Support BDMs during key meetings, events, and supplier engagements as needed.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performance culture across the sales function.

• Develop and implement an annual sales strategy aligned with Premier Holidays’ commercial priorities.
• Review and analyse sales performance data, identifying trends, challenges, and opportunities for growth.
• Oversee trade sales and marketing budgets, working closely with the Senior Partnerships Manager to optimise spend and ensure activities align with strategy, and ensuring that trade marketing and sales activity remains within budget.
• Collaborate closely with the Head of Marketing to ensure all marketing activities support the sales strategy.
• Drive initiatives that grow market share, maximise revenue, and enhance brand presence.
• Oversee the agent incentive program.
• Oversee digital sales initiatives alongside the Website Manager to ensure alignment with the field sales strategy.
• Provide regular insights, reporting, and recommendations to the Board of Directors.

• Represent Premier Holidays at a senior level with key trade partners, miniples, consortia and influential industry bodies.
• Oversee agent credit arrangements and manage associated risks.
• Be responsible for managing and maximising sales from national accounts.
• Negotiate commercial agreements, which include commission levels, overrides and marketing spend.
• Lead strategic negotiations and discussions to strengthen long-term trade partnerships.
• Support the team in initiating and nurturing relationships with travel agencies across the UK.
• Ensure consistent company messaging and presentation standards at all meetings, roadshows, and events.

• Maintain deep understanding of the UK travel industry dynamics, competitor performance, and commercial trends.
• Act as the conduit between the sales team and internal departments, feeding back market intelligence to the product, marketing, commercial, and operations teams.

• Planning and…