It is obviously a coup for &Beyond who now not only has Kent's ample acumen but also the value of his weighty name.
Kent was previously global CEO of &Beyond peer Abercrombie & Kent (A&K), heading up their 61 international offices. He brings a wealth of travel industry knowledge and experience in managing large-scale tour operations in the luxury market in which &Beyond operates. He replaces Debbie Meyer, the company's then chief financial officer, who took the helm in August 2009.
Mark Getty, joint chairman of &Beyond said in a statement, "It was extremely important for us to select a CEO who had both hard-nosed commercial experience and a deep understanding of the luxury safari business in order to drive our vision for growth and market leadership."
Prior to joining the safari industry in a leadership capacity, Joss Kent trained at the Royal Military Academy (Sandhurst) and served in the British armed forces. He worked as a business analyst, graduated with a Harvard MBA, and spent three years as a management consultant with Bain & Co in the USA and UK. He re-joined A&K as chief operating officer, then climbed the ranks to managing director and finally took up the post of CEO in 2010.
As the &Beyond experience is as much about luxury accommodation and rarefied locations as it is about people who work there, it will be interesting to see if he can continue creating a corporate environment where his team are empowered to deliver the guest experience that for me makes &Beyond one of my favourite safaris.
More interesting, however, is to see if Kent reclaims his throne in the family business in the years to come.
