PRESS RELEASE
15-YEAR-OLD TILSTONE APPOINTED ROADMAP INTERIM CEO
COMPANY “MASHUP” EXPLORES OPPORTUNITY FOR NEXTGEN IN TRAVEL BUSINESS
Yes, you read that right. And no, the FESTIVE ROAD Managing Partner hasn’t gone through some sort of cryo-chamber de-aging process.
In a company “mashup” starting the week of the 11th February 2019, travel mobile technology company Roadmap, based in Delft in the Netherlands, are hosting 50-year-old Paul Tilstone and 15-year-old son, Fin Tilstone for a week of interesting inter-company activity.
The week is officially the work-experience week for Tilstone junior as part of his schooling in the UK, but rather than ask Fin to do the filing, undertake the coffee run or shadow staff, he has been invited to be inducted as official company CEO in an interim capacity for the full 5 days.
During his time he will undertake a formal consulting role for the company, alongside Tilstone senior, to address some key questions around creating a business fit for a more diverse, next generation of employees. He has the authority to administer change during the week if he wishes to. The role will see him interview existing Roadmap clients and employees, join a hackathon, be part of a pitch to a major, global prospect and assess the role of the c-level at the company. The week culminates in a report-back to the whole company and a podcast recording of his experience.
In parallel, the Roadmap and FESTIVE ROAD leaders will be considering the impact on the company and on the young student’s impression of the travel space and have promised to feed back to companies, schools and colleges in the UK and Netherlands who are interested in the innovative approach.
Talking about the opportunity, managing partner Paul Tilstone said, “When I approached the leaders of Roadmap I was impressed by how much they embraced the idea as they instantly saw the opportunity to challenge themselves and make him CEO. It’s so amazing to see our #BeTheRoad approach in action over something like student work placements.”
Jeroen Van Velzen, “present” CEO at Roadmap, added, “We grabbed the opportunity to have someone young and fresh take a look at us and our business and give us feedback through a 15-year-old’s eyes.”
Fin Tilstone will return to school for his exams in the springtime with an enhanced CV and normality will be returned to Roadmap with Van Velzen reclaiming the CEO role.
ENDS
About FESTIVE ROAD
FESTIVE ROAD is on a mission for better business travel and meetings management. Headed by business travel thought leaders Paul Tilstone and Caroline Strachan, together with their network of international Roaders, they provide strategy, sourcing and delivery services to the buyer community and strategy, marketing and delivery services to the supplier community. The FESTIVE ROAD team has been recognised multiple times in prominent industry leader lists and industry awards as leading lights in the global business travel market since 2007.
