Peter Long (born 4 June 1952) is an English businessman. He is the chairman of Royal Mail and

Countrywide Countrywide is one of the UK's largest integrated property services group including residential property surveying, a collaboration of estate agents, and corporate services. It employs circa 8,500 personnel nationwide, working across 650+ estat ...

Early years

Long was born in Malta, as his father was serving in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. He attended Price's Grammar School in Fareham,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, following which he went to further education college to qualify as an accountant.

Career

Long began his career as a cost accountant at electronics firm Vernitron.Davidson, Andrew
“The Andrew Davidson interview: Peter Long”
“

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

”, London, 4 October 2009. He then worked in finance at engineering firm

Thomas Tilling The Tilling Group was one of two conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other conglomerate, British El ...

before moving into the travel industry. He joined Harry Goodman's International Leisure Group in 1984, rising to chief executive of the tourism division.Walsh, Dominic
“Business big shot: Peter Long”
“

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

, London, 20 March 2007. Following this, he set up Sunworld in 1991 with Spanish hotelier partners, and it was eventually sold to the Thomas Cook Group in June 1996. In November 1996, Long was appointed group managing director of First Choice Holidays PLC and became chief executive in September 1999. He was one of the architects of the 2007 consolidation in European tour operating in which First Choice Holidays merged with TUI Tourism (part of

TUI AG TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...

) in September 2007 to create

TUI Travel PLC Tui or TUI may refer to: Places * Tui, Pontevedra, Spain * Tui, Iran, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Tui, North Khorasan, North Khorasan Province, Iran * Tui Province, Burkina Faso * Tuis District, Costa Rica * Tui railway station, New Zealand ...

, one of the largest leisure travel groups in the world. Post-merger, Long grew TUI Travel's profits in sometimes challenging market conditions by offering more differentiated holiday products - hotels and activities that not available through other operators - to its customers. TUI Travel merged with TUI AG in December 2014 to form

TUI Group TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...

, the world's largest tourism company. Long was joint chief executive of TUI Group, and is deputy chairman of the supervisory board. In October 2013, Long was appointed president of the Family Holiday Association, a UK-based charity which provides short breaks away from home for more than 2,000 disadvantaged families.Davies, Phil
“Tui's Peter Long takes up role as FHA president”
“ Travel Weekly, London, 1 October 2013. Long became chairman of Royal Mail in September 2015. In January 2018, Long who is chairman of

, replaced Alison Platt the CEO, who resigned after the company issued its second profit warning in three months, and its shares fell to an all-time low, while a successor is sought.

Honours and awards

*Medal of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

for contributions to services to Spanish tourism (2009). *Member of the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame (inducted in 2001). *Odyssey Award from the Institute of Travel and Tourism (received twice, 1998 and 2008).Institute of Travel & Tourism
"Odyssey Award Winners"
*Fellow of the Tourism Society.

Personal life

Long is married, with three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Peter Living people 1952 births British chief executives British corporate directors British chairpersons of corporations