Business Development Executive - Maternity Cover in London

Role: Business Development Executive (Maternity Cover)

Location: Remote with regular UK travel (approximately 3 days per week) and at least 2 days per month in our London office

Contract Type: Permanent, Full Time.

We're looking for an enthusiastic, commercially minded and relationship focused Business Development Executive to join our ambitious team on a maternity cover contract.

This is a varied, fast-paced role that combines business development, account management, sales support, partner engagement and event planning. You'll play a key role in supporting our travel agent and tour operator partners, helping to grow awareness, engagement and sales across both CV Villas and ABOVE by CV Villas.

You'll spend much of your time building relationships with partners, delivering training, supporting enquiries, promoting campaigns and representing our brands across the travel trade. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who enjoys being out on the road, thrives on building connections and is passionate about helping partners succeed.

So if you're passionate about building strong relationships, love representing a premium travel brand - we’d love to hear from you.

This role requires frequent travel, with approximately two - three days per week on the road, plus occasional international trips and conferences, covering expenses from your home. You will need to be flexible, as UK and overseas sales trips alongside conferences may require longer periods away from home.

To apply, please complete application and submit your CV and Covering letter.

If you need extra support with your application,simply let us know. We value diversity, equity & inclusion. If you do require any additional support, please contact [email protected], and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss how we can support you and any reasonable adjustments we can make.

CV Villas

CV Villas is one of the UK’s leading Villa specialists, with over 50 years’ experience, forming part of Der Tour, one of Europe’s leading travel groups.

Boasting an exceptional selection of over 800 handpicked properties in highly sought-after destinations across the globe, CV Villas is recognised for its unwavering commitment to excellence, authenticity, and personalised service, both in the UK, and in destination.

With a deep understanding of what it takes to craft the perfect villa holiday; we are dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences that meet the highest standards of quality and authenticity.

The Role & what we're looking for:

A motivated and dynamic individual to join our team as a Business Development Executive, who will play a key role in supporting our travel agent and tour operator partners, cultivating their loyalty and driving business growth for CV Villas and our ABOVE portfolio.

The role of Business Development Executive will regularly support our UK and International travel agent partners and promote our portfolio to ensure our brand is the travel trades go to villa specialist tour operator.

This individual must be an organised, self-motivated and proactive member of the team, providing agency sales support to our large network of B2B partners. We’re looking for someone with excellent administrative skills to keep our reservations system and travel agent database up to date.

Full Job Description: JD - CV Villas - Business Development Executive .pdf

Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain strong professional relationships with key stakeholders, clients, and partners to generate mutual business growth.
• Act as a trusted point of contact by building rapport, understanding client needs, and ensuring consistent communication to strengthen agency partnerships.
• Ensure that our CV Villas agent communication channels are regularly updated with shareable offers and engaging posts.
• Plan, coordinate, and lead familiarisation trips in-destination to showcase our villas.
• Coordinate with various departments within the business including sales, customer experience and product to ensure seamless execution of travel agent bookings.
• Facilitate agent gifting and incentives for our trade partners.
• Communicate last minute availability and distressed stock to partners by email and telephone.
• Facilitate booking amendments and administration requests for trade partners as required.
• Assist in the creation and delivery of brand/product training to our travel agent partners both virtually and in-person.
• Proactively identify potential new opportunities for CV Villas and ABOVE by CV Villas.
• Lead our onboarding process using our CRM system to ensure accurate partner information is inputted and agents are confident to sell our products.
• Provide continuous guidance and respond to partner enquiries in the agent mailbox.
• Regularly assist the Senior Business Development Manager with general trade and partnership activities.
• Support commercial meetings by generating reports and market intelligence.
• Work with marketing teams to support campaigns, co-branded collateral, and joint initiatives with trade partners.
• Make outbound calls to trade partners to inform of new sales campaigns and incentives.
• Proactively manage a portfolio of trade accounts and monitor account performance, identify trends and produce regular reports for the business development team.
• Increase demand from key partnerships across our UK and international B2B network.
• Ensure the company is represented professionally and consistently in all partner interactions.
• Stay informed on industry trends, competitor activity, and agent feedback.
• Plan and coordinate and attend trade and partner events, ensuring successful execution and securing strong attendance from key accounts.
• Conduct regular in-person visits to trade partners across our agent network to educate on the CV Villas product.
• Support trade partners with ongoing booking enquiries to maximise enquiry conversion.
• Willing to travel for sales calls, client entertainment and events.

About You:

Essential:

• Willing to work unsocial hours – weekends and evenings to ensure targets are met
• Flexibility to travel extensively across the UK and Europe as required sometimes at short notice
• Ability to work from 96 Great Suffolk Street in London at least two days per month
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Relationship management skills, with ideally proven relationships within the industry
• Calm under pressure
• Client focused
• Team player

Desirable:

• Understanding of the travel trade
• Social media experience
• Business development experience
• Knowledge of key European villa destinations
• A working knowledge of Microsoft Office Applications

Benefits & Perks:

• 23 days holiday, plus bank holidays (holiday allowance increases with length of service)
• Flexitime (including option to bank hours giving an additional 4 days off per year)
• Additional day off to celebrate your birthday
• 2 volunteer days per year
  
• Company matched pension scheme and life assurance
• Company trips
• Free annual travel insurance
• Holiday concessions for personal trips - a complimentary villa per year!
• Friends & family holiday discounts
• Travel season ticket loans
• Cycle to work scheme
• Learning & development opportunities
• In-house wellness team