Meet the team

Colin is the Founder and Chairman of Collinson. He created Collinson in 1991 as a holding company for all the individual companies, products and services that he developed throughout his career spanning 40 years.

Having built the company on innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, Colin is the driving force behind many firsts in the travel and loyalty arena. He launched the first independent global VIP lounge access programme, Priority Pass; Columbus Direct was the first company to sell direct travel insurance in the UK, and ICLP was the first dedicated international loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector. He has also been recognised for being at the forefront of loyalty with awards such as Loyalty Magazine's Personality of the Year 2017 and the Loyalty Lifetime Achievement Mega Award in 2011.

Collinson now represents the breadth and depth of all this expertise and Colin remains as committed as ever to driving innovation throughout the organisation, leading product innovation and strategic development projects including company acquisitions.

Christopher is our Joint CEO at Collinson.  He is responsible for leading our global teams to deliver  our business vision, strategy and commercial goals working in close partnerships with our teams across our four regions.
 
Having joined Collinson as a Director in 2013, his previous experience comprised 17 years with international marketing and management responsibilities at leading fragrance and cosmetics house, Coty International, for brands such as Calvin Klein, Davidoff, adidas and Rimmel, across regions including Europe, Russia, Africa, Middle East and North America.
 
Christopher continually challenges himself and inspires others to improve what we can do to deliver smarter client solutions and customer experiences.  Outside of work, he juggles the demands of a busy family life with his passion for water polo, still competing competitively in the National League and previously representing England and Great Britain.

David is our Joint CEO and has responsibility for leading regional execution of our global strategy, driving regional performance in line with local requirements while remaining true to our entrepreneurial spirit and global vision.

David joined Collinson in 2010 with accountability for our Insurance and Assistance divisions, having spent 15 years working within the London and international insurance markets. His career experience includes roles ranging from broking at Rattner Mackenzie Ltd, deputy underwriter for Kiln Ltd, as well as having spent five years as Managing Director of HCC Specialty Underwriters.

David's vision for the company remains the same: to adopt a fresh approach, grounded in best practice for the delivery of a superior customer experience to clients.

Mark is our Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer.  He joined Collinson in 2013 and is responsible for the financial management of the company, delivering operations and support services across its offices globally. Under Mark's stewardship, the finance community provides the governance necessary for the business to sustain its profitable growth and commercial goals.

Mark draws on his wealth of international experience with a successful 20-year track record in senior management positions. Prior to joining Collinson, he spent eight years at Bupa, initially as Group Treasurer in London and then as CFO of Health Dialog, a care management company based in Boston, Massachusetts.  Mark has also held positions in a number of public companies and spent a period consulting with KPMG.

Outside work, Mark satisfies his passion for music by both playing the electric guitar and listening to a vast array of different musical genres; his encyclopaedic knowledge of pop music has been described by some as unnatural!  He is also a keen sports fan, especially baseball and American Football, an interest developed whilst living in the US.

Mignon is accountable for the development and management of Collinson's corporate strategy, providing  business insight and setting our mid to long term company direction.  She is responsible for maximising the utilisation of our existing assets, future investments and intellectual property to futureproof our business amongst the ever-changing commercial landscape. 

Mignon has worked for Collinson for over 20 years.  As Managing Director of our global loyalty marketing agency expertise, formerly ICLP, she was responsible for more than 600 people globally whose focus was to create more loyalty and profitable relationships for clients.  She also led the international expansion of our loyalty expertise into new territories.  Before Collinson she previously held senior client relationships roles with BT and Hilton. 

Steve is accountable for both Collinson’s Airport Lounge Development (ALD) business as well as being a member of Collinson’s Board. In his role as CEO of ALD, he is accountable for working with partners across the globe to drive the aggressive growth of our own airport lounge business, as well as the ongoing expansion of our other airport infrastructure projects. This critically important part of our business ensures that we can continue to be masters of our own destiny and innovate within the ever-exciting airport space.

Steve joined Collinson Group in 1997 as Marketing Director for IAPA and Priority Pass, and was promoted to Global Managing Director in 2002. He continued to lead our airport lounge and travel membership programmes business for the next 15 years and enjoyed global revenue growth in excess of 500%. His vision is to continue to innovative in the airport space, creating exclusive experiences that Collinson can then make available to multi-national brands with a consistent service delivery, improving the experience of frequent travellers worldwide.

Paul joined Collinson in March 2018 as our Chief Information Officer and is responsible for global technology strategy, digital innovation and its delivery globally.  Paul is passionate about embracing  progressive technology and using it to unlock IT assets so technology can become a true enabler in the achievement of strategic ambitions.  

Prior to joining Collinson, he founded a specialist consultancy business providing technology leadership services to blue chip clients to help them grow their businesses. Paul has held leadership roles across multiple industries including professional services, media, financial services and retail, and has held CIO positions for Eversheds llp and Taylor Wimpey plc.

When Paul is not embarrassing his teenage kids or participating in yoga, he helps not-for-profit organisations exploit their technology investments.

Bertie joined Collinson in 2013 and now heads up our global People & Culture team focused on ensuring we continue to evolve our unique purpose-driven culture. He thrives on challenging conventional thinking and passionately believes in doing what it takes to help our people achieve their full  potential within an environment they are proud to work in.

Bertie has spent most of his career as a senior talent and organisation development specialist, operating as both an in-house expert and management consultant, creating strong links between people and strategy. His experience stretches across a range of industry sectors such as media, retail and financial services, including two expatriate assignments in MENA and the Americas. 

Bertie describes himself first and foremost as a skateboarder, having ridden a plank now for over 35 years. When the bad weather arrives he can normally be found on the south west coast of England teaching his two boys to surf.

Andy leads the Travel Experiences division, which provides the market-leading airport lounge and experiences programme, Priority Pass. His focus is on the continuation of our digital transformation, delivering customer-centric innovation that enhances the travel journey for millions of the world’s most discerning travellers.

Andy joined Collinson in 2018. He brings a wealth of experience from senior leadership roles within the payments industry, having spent over 16 years at American Express as General Manager and Head of Europe Network Partnerships. Most recently, Andy was Managing Director for XE Europe, an international online foreign exchange tools and services company. 

Describing himself as a sports mad, Andy enjoys playing football, tennis, golf, rugby and participating in physical endurance events. Often inspired by his travel experiences, he is also a keen chef and wine enthusiast. 

Peter leads our Product and Innovation functions, identifying and delivering proposition solutions that create value for our clients. Peter works with our regional and divisional teams, and with external partners, to ensure our product suite meets the current and future needs of our global client base and their customers. 

Peter joined Collinson in 2013 from Europ Assistance UK and Ireland where, as Commercial Director, he led their sales, account management, product and marketing teams. He brings a wealth of experience within financial services, retail, insurance, assistance and consulting, all of which have strong links to Collinson’s core areas of expertise. Peter has a proven track record of success in product development, strategy, innovation and multichannel commerce for companies including RBS, Tesco Personal Finance, Accenture and Boots.

Peter loves a challenge and thrives on creating new things and solving difficult problems.  Outside work he has a lifelong passion for sport and, following a long playing career, is now climbing the ladder as a football referee.

Sacha is responsible for our global estate of customer service centres, providing multichannel and multilingual services directly to our client’s customers that use our products and services. The customer service centre teams help members get the most out of their airport and lounge experience, manage claims for insured customers and deliver a range of customer and support services to many of our internal divisions and regions and their clients. 

Sacha joined Collinson in 2003, bringing over 20 years of experience and expertise in contact centres and customer service across various industries such as insurance, assistance, travel and airlines supporting clients with customer retention, loyalty and membership management. Sacha has been accountable for the delivery of many high profile client programmes using skilled teams in South Africa, Ireland, Spain and the UK.

Stephen leads a team of talented marketers globally who are collectively responsible for driving growth for Collinson. He is accountable for the Collinson brand, our B2B marketing to increase new client acquisition, development and growth as well as the marketing of our direct-to-consumer propositions including Priority Pass and Columbus Direct.

Stephen joined Collinson in 2013 and spent his first 4 years leading marketing for the Travel Experiences division where he led the rebrand of Priority Pass and the market launch of LoungeKey. Before Collinson, Stephen held a number of global and EMEA regional leadership roles in technology, telecoms, retail, utilities and agency sectors. 

After growing up in Australia, he moved to London in 2007 to pursue his passion for travelling the world and seeking out new experiences which he continues to do. He recently completed his Masters of Brand, Communication and Culture at the University of London (Goldsmiths).

Steve's role is to lead our Loyalty practice globally. His goal is for Collinson to be at the forefront of loyalty strategy, products and services, delivering ROI for our clients and great brand experiences for their customers.  

Steve has spent his career working with major blue chip clients such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, British Airways, Ford, HJ Heinz, 3 Mobile, Eurostar and Eurotunnel and helping them to create and manage loyalty and CRM strategies across all channels and touch points.  He has held senior agency leadership roles at the likes of Rapp Collins, Wunderman, Tangent Snowball among others.  

Steve enjoys working with great people on great brands and outside of work he is sport obsessed, having spent much of his life chasing after various sized and shaped balls, amidst running and cycling. He balances this with a healthy enjoyment of eating and drinking well.

Sheryl, alongside Lars Holmquist is jointly responsible for P&L, strategy and growth of our business across  the Americas. However her primary focus is on the continued expansion of our Travel Experiences division and delivering tangible value to all clients and partners while broadening and increasing our expertise throughout the region.  

Sheryl joined Collinson in 2005 which started with a sole focus on Priority Pass where she built and leveraged talented resources and commercial practices to grow that business to its current level of success. During her time she has grown the Americas Travel Experience business enormously, both organically through excellent service to existing clients, as well as overseeing the onboarding of new clients representing significant value. Before Collinson, Sheryl’s career spanned roles in sales, marketing and business operations with increasing levels of responsibility and management.  

Sheryl's passion for driving success goes beyond her work-life where she applies it to several charitable causes including organising a major charity golf fundraiser each year, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for a very worthy cause.

Richard is responsible for the P&L, business strategy and a significant proportion of our people based in three of our offices in the European region.  He is also the leader of our Insurance and Assistance business globally.

Richard joined Collinson in 2017 and prior to that, he has spent 20 years in the insurance industry with the last 13 years running insurance businesses for Zurich Insurance across Yacht, High Net Worth, Personal Lines and SME customers. His last role was as Managing Director of the Commercial Broker business in the UK where he had responsibility for around 1,000 people.

Outside of work, Richard is a father of two, and very active enjoying running, golf and would class himself as an enthusiastic-but-not-skilful skier.  He is also part-time advisor to a fast growing Insurtech firm.

Dion is responsible for developing and delivering our regional business strategy across the Middle East, Africa and India. He joined the business in 1999 and has held various management positions working out of the Dubai, Sydney, and London offices.

Dion has built his expertise in loyalty and CRM over 25 years working with clients and agencies to drive more loyal and profitable customer relationships across the travel, retail, telcoms and financial services sectors.  He has international senior management experience, and has spent the past five years at regional director level highlighting his management experience in loyalty and CRM. 

As a self-confessed workaholic, Dion seldom takes a holiday but, when he does, he clocks up the frequent flyer miles in pursuit of the other passion in his life - rugby. Dion wants to get away to Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup as a big birthday present to himself! 

Todd is responsible for delivering Collinson’s strategy across the Asia Pacific region. He will continue to grow the company’s footprint in this fast-growing market and build our network of regional customers while supporting global customers with operations in Asia Pacific. Leading the teams across our locations including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and Australia, Todd will drive a high-performance culture that enhances our reputation as a global leader in its space.

Todd joined Collinson in 2018 bringing over 25 years’ experience, a deep understanding of the Asia Pacific market, and strong track record in managing complex businesses similar to Collinson. He has supported regional and global clients in the banking, insurance, consumer, retail, travel and hospitality sectors. Previously, he was President Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific for Kognitiv Corporation, and prior to that held senior leadership roles with Williams Lea Tag and BT Global Services.

An avid sports enthusiast, Todd is a dedicated rugby supporter, basketball fan and has completed two 250-kilometer races in the Gobi and Sahara Deserts. He is also currently the Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. Todd is the proud father of three grown sons now living in Canada.

Lars, alongside Sheryl Pflaum, is jointly responsible for growing and diversifying our business within the Americas region, however he maintains a particular focus on our expertise in loyalty, insurance and assistance as well as our other emerging products and markets. 

Lars joined Collinson in 2016 and brings with him a wealth of loyalty expertise in travel, financial services and retail sectors.  He has held  senior sales, marketing and operational roles at American Express, Mastercard, TSYS, Cartera and Loylogic in the US, Sweden and Switzerland highlighting his vast and established experience.

Lars enthusiastically embraces new challenges which he also does in his personal life.  He has completed several hiking challenges including the Adirondack 46ers, South Beyond 6000 and the UK Three Peaks Challenge.  Not content with existing challenges, he founded Georgia 4000 and continues to support it actively.  Lars is an Appalachian Trail maintainer and enjoys sharing his love of hiking and travel with his children.

Mary, alongside Kevin Goldmintz, is jointly responsible for P&L, strategy and growth of our business across all products, services, markets and channels in the Asia Pacific region.  

Mary joined Collinson in 2014 where she had accountability for the business strategy and management of our CRM and loyalty marketing agency expertise in Hong Kong, formerly ICLP.  She has over 25 years of global experience in designing consumer engagement strategies that convert into meaningful and measurable results for her clients, and their brands across the travel, hospitality, health and wellness, financial services and retail sectors.  

Mary is passionate about connecting clients with their consumers in personalised, one-to-one dialogue, through a variety of communication channels, resulting in profitable, life-time customer value.