Criton announces new Advisory Board

Award-winning travel tech firm Criton has today announced the addition of an Advisory Board as the business looks to scale further within the UK and enter international markets. Made up of a group of business and industry experts, the board comprises Peter Lederer, former Chair of luxury hotel Gleneagles and VisitScotland, Diana Easley Montador, a former Microsoft executive, David Turnbull, co-founder of SnapShot and founding partner of TechTalk.Travel, Jill Chalmers, MD of Glenapp Castle, Richard Lewis, experienced NxD and ex VP of Secureworks, Andrew Williams, ex Kotican and FanDuel and Iain Mackay, ex Intuitus and CTO of All-Hotels.com, as Chair of Criton completes the Board.

Julie Grieve, founder and CEO of Criton said:

“Criton specialises in developing innovative technology for the hospitality sector, and I’m really delighted to have secured such a diverse and experienced group of experts to join the Advisory Board. We have ambitious growth targets for 2020 and their appointment will further strengthen our ability to remain at the forefront of everything we offer. We are 2 years post-investment and having built a fantastic and scalable technology platform we are now focused on growth. I am very much looking forward to gaining the benefit of the Board’s experience.”

Jill Chalmers said:

“Over the past 10 years, it’s become obvious that giving guests choice in how they communicate with the hotel and delivering the information they require to their phone is crucial and I’m excited about how Criton can help independent operators meet guests needs and increase revenue. Julie’s passion for helping independents shines through and I am enjoying working with her and supporting the wider Criton team.”

David Turnbull said:

“I’m delighted to have been invited by Julie to join the advisory board of Criton. Whilst many companies have focused their offerings on a very specific aspect of the customer journey, Criton has developed a very simple and easy to use platform that helps hotels start and manage their digital transformation and introduces many new touchpoints for improved service and revenue generation. Criton is an important part of the rising wave of Scottish travel and hotel technology companies who have emerged in recent years and from that perspective, it’s a pleasure to be back on “home turf” working with the Criton team.”

Peter Lederer said:

“I’m delighted to join the Criton’s Advisory Board. The hospitality industry is sometimes slow and resistant to change. Criton provide a step change with improved guest service, lower commissions and higher revenues - a quick and easy win”

The announcement shortly follows the launch of Criton 2.0, the second-generation app for luxury hotels which allows guests to create an account, retrieve a booking, check-in to the hotel and access their room using digital door key. 

Criton enables resorts, and groups of hotels and serviced apartments to future-proof their business and take the guest experience to the next level with a sophisticated mobile app. From digitising the traditional guestbook to PMS, live chat, digital door key and in-room ordering integrations all contained within a fully branded hotel app; Criton supports hospitality businesses with their digital transformation strategies and works with clients across the UK and overseas.

Members of Criton’s Advisory Board (in alphabetic order)

Jill Chalmers is Managing Director of Glenapp Castle Hotel, Board Director of The Hotel Management Company, Managing Director of the Suite Company and Director Scotland of The Buell Group. Previously, Jill was Managing Director of all-hotels.com, General Manager of Skibo Castle and International Leisure Sales Director of Scandic Hotels.

Diana Easley Montador is the Managing Director of Montador Consulting, an insights, marketing and strategy consulting firm based in Edinburgh. Previously, Diana was the director of market research for Microsoft’s Consumer Apps and Services Marketing Team, as well as running global research for Skype and international research for eBay.  Diana is a board member of Museums Galleries Scotland and the Edinburgh Business School.

Peter Lederer’s name is synonymous with some of the leading brands in Scotland. He is currently Chairman of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Hamilton & Inches, Applecrate and Taste Communications. Peter was President of the Institute of Hospitality, Chairman of VisitScotland and Managing Director and Chairman of Gleneagles Hotels. In his early career, he was General Manager of Four Seasons Hotels and Plaza Hotels.

Richard Lewis runs RCL Consulting, a consultancy firm focusing on the coaching and mentoring of senior executives as well as developing business strategy and assisting with external investment to deliver growth.  Richard is a Non-Executive Director of Money Dashboard, QueryClick, Red61 and Symphonic Software. Richard was the COO of DNS which was ultimately sold to Secureworks and Sales Director of Morse.

Iain Mackay has an extensive background in a number of technology companies including COO at Intuitus, CTO of All-Hotels.com, CIO at Wolfson Microelectronics, and founder managing team member and CIO at Kwik-Fit Insurance. Iain helped all these businesses successfully through periods of rapid growth, investment and exit. He has also advised on hundreds of PE investments throughout the UK and Europe.

David Turnbull is the co-founder of SnapShot and founding partner of TechTalk.Travel. After spending more than 7 years as a Director of Revenue Management for various hotels in Glasgow, London and Berlin, he founded and became Managing Director of Yeeld Solutions, a pan-European hotel revenue management outsource & distribution services provider. David is now also member of the Advisory Boards of Seatris (Berlin), Travel Playlist (Berlin), Spelfie (Glasgow), Swipe Wifi (Glasgow). 

Andrew Williams was COO of Kotikan which grew to become Scotlands largest mobile app development company, he took on the role of Lead Architect when Fanduel acquired Kotikan. Since leaving Fanduel Andrew now works with some of Scotland fastest growing technology start-ups helping them develop market-leading technologies.