Head of People and Culture

Destination2 Ltd and HolidayGems Ltd are part of Travcorp Holdings Ltd and are two of the most innovative and progressive online tour operators in the UK, selling holidays nationwide to various long and short-haul destinations.

Our inspirational business has grown from strength to strength in both financial terms and passenger carryings. Last year, we surpassed the £134 million sales mark, resulting in over 360,000 beds/nights. We became recognised as one of the top UK Holiday providers to destinations within the UAE, Maldives and the Caribbean. With our new cruise brand launched plus new destination openings in the year, we are continuing to strive for business growth and success

The knowledge within our business is impressive and drives our results year after year, resulting in winning business industry awards such as “Outstanding Fast-Growth Business”, “Top Growth Business Partner” and the “CEO of the Year” awards.

The business has also embarked on its ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) journey to understand and measure our impact on society, the environment and our transparency as a business. Amongst other things, our ESG journey demonstrates commitment to continuous improvement of our processes and managing emerging risks to ensure long-term business success in addition to implementation of new social strategies for our people. We believe that keeping our team happy contributes immensely to our business success.

We are looking for a Head of People and Culture to manage and continue to progress a pro-active, proficient, and effective HR Department and strategy overseeing approximately 135 UK employees, European Homeworkers and a team in South Africa. Reporting at Director/Shareholder level, you will work closely with all levels of management within the business in order to provide support in all areas of the employee lifecycle. You will have already progressed through the ranks in your career, be proficient in employment law and be up to speed with current and future legislation and be able to use your HR knowledge and experience to hit the ground running. You will be smart, hard-working, competent, knowledgeable, approachable and committed to your continuation of HR career and be a true all-rounder. This role is fast paced so it is vital that you are up to the challenge of a thriving and fastgrowing enterprise

You will ideally have worked in a similar role within an SME with 100 to 150 employees and ideally have worked within the travel industry, however, this is not essential. You will have worked in a small team where you had a hands-on approach and built a strong generalist background. You will possess excellent interpersonal skills and have a proven track record in building and maintaining collaborative working relationships with managers, senior team members, and employees while understanding that confidentiality in this role is key. You must also be highly adaptable and flexible to meet the demands of a very varied and challenging role. While other HR roles will concentrate solely on HR issues, this opportunity offers much more scope and excitement as it also encompasses ESG, Health & Safety, Data Governance and other projects that require great HR input including organised project rollouts therefore project management experience is also a desired skill.

• Manage and develop the HR function across the whole employee lifecycle.
• Contribute to developing and executing organisational and people initiatives/projects in line with business strategies including growth plans, ESG, and changes in government legislation.
• Manage employee relations casework including but not limited to dispute resolutions, flexible working, disciplinaries, grievances, absence, redundancy, and tribunals.
• Work closely with line managers to understand, advise, and support on policies and procedures such as working conditions, performance management, disciplinary procedures, and absence management.
• Keep up to date with changes in employment law/legislation to ensure the business is provided with the most up-to-date advice to avoid any risk to the business.
• Write, implement, and keep up-to-date policies and procedures in line with business needs and changes in law/legislation.
• Develop the recruitment strategy to attract and hire the best candidates for the UK and South Africa.
• Manage and develop the HR Coordinator within the Team.
• Liaise/co-ordinate with the business’ designated legal advisories and solicitor/s.
• Accountable for ensuring the operational day-to-day HR activities are carried out effectively to plan and timescales taking full responsibility for the day-to-day operation in the HR Coordinator’s absence.
• Oversee the annual performance review process for all employees.
• Manage the annual employee engagement survey, identify areas of improvements and action as appropriate.
• Manage and monitor all employee benefits.
• Respond promptly to manager and employee HR queries in line with current legislation.
• Responsible for and ensure full compliance of employee electronic records, internal intranet, benefit information, etc.
• Liaise with the Finance Manager, Department Managers, and employees to ensure HR payroll data submitted is correct ensuring the correct process of monthly payroll.
• Oversee data protection including logging data breaches and subject access requests.
• Prioritise and action own workload to meet internal and external deadlines.
• Work with various in-house systems, computer programmes, google documents, SharePoint, and My HRToolkit.
• Undertake ad-hoc duties/ projects as and when required.
• Attend and assist with HR meetings as and when required.

• Previous HR Management experience in a generalist HR role.
• Previous proven management of internal recruitment.
• Knowledge of up-to-date Employment Law and Legislation across the employee lifecycle.
• Excellent knowledge of HR policies and procedures.
• Extensive knowledge of how an SME works and a HR function operates.
• Proven experience in dealing with complex ER cases up to the tribunal stage.
• Previous experience in supporting an ESG strategy.
• Proven experience of having a flexible, adaptable, and methodical approach to HR, with experience of successfully dealing with challenges.
• Dedicated and results-driven with the ability to manage a diverse range of duties at one time.
• Ability to organise, prioritise and manage own workload efficiently under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Inquisitive with an open mind.
• Competence to work collaboratively to build and maintain strong working relationships.
• Excellent negotiating and influencing skills.
• Excellent administrative skills, high levels of accuracy, and meticulous attention to detail.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong ability to analyse data and problem-solve.
• Personal credibility, someone that others will trust with sensitive data and information.
• Confident, approachable, and a proactive individual with the ability to work independently.
• An incredible people person with a positive “can do” attitude.
• Strong computer literacy.

• CIPD Level 5 Qualified (or equivalent) however, and alternatively, proven comprehensive experience in a senior and similar HR Position.
• GCSE English and Maths: Grade C or above (or equivalent)

• Up to £50k p.a. depending on experience
• 23 days holiday rising 1 day per year (up to 25)
• Bank Holidays (Paid)
• Discounted personal holidays
• Competitive benefits package inc. Eye Care, Life Insurance, Retail Discounts, L&D Funding
• Company Pension Scheme
• Free Parking
• Friendly working atmosphere