Kirk has 20 years of marketing knowledge and joins Amadeus from voluntary and community charity VAST, where she spent seven years. In her new role, Kirk will be responsible for driving key initiatives and raising the profile of Amadeus’ portfolio, which includes catering for four million visitors a year as part of the NEC Group.
Managing director, Kevin Watson, said: “Alison joins a diverse and committed board comprising some of the best talent in the industry. Over the last five years we have transformed the image of Amadeus from the NEC Group’s caterer, to one of today’s most exciting and innovative providers, punching its weight among the industry’s key players.
“Today, Amadeus is growing at pace – with Alison’s appointment we are adding to our skills pool as we aim to take Amadeus to new levels by expanding our reach and penetration into new areas of the leisure and retail industry.”
In the last five years, Amadeus has grown from a £25m to a £42m business with a 206% growth in profit. Last year was the company’s most successful, with a record amount of new business tenders totalling over £30m secured and year-on-year profits up by 36%.