Ciarán Lavery has been appointed head of technical services by Jurys Inn. Lavery will be responsible for the management of capital expenditure, new developments and refurbishment projects across the group. With over 16 years’ experience in project management and development, Lavery was previously project manager at Steve Cunningham & Associates, where he worked extensively with Jurys Inn Hotel Group on the design, construction and handover phases of its Newcastle, Glasgow, Leeds, Chelsea, Heathrow and Exeter hotels, as well as project managing the €1 million refurbishment of its Galway hotel.

Tim Waggott has been confirmed as the chief executive of Dover Harbour Board. Re-appointed chair George Jenkins said: ‘It is clear to the board that Tim has now demonstrated his ability to undertake the role on a permanent basis. He has quickly established improving relationships with the customers and the community as well as implementing organisational changes. I am therefore pleased to confirm and congratulate Tim on his appointment as chief executive.'

Ting Mou has been introduced by The National Trust for Scotland as its new China sales agent. Based in Shenzhen, Mou will be representing the trust at VisitBritain’s China sales mission in Chengdu in November and will now be the trust’s first point of contact for China operators. Mou is currently developing marketing collateral in Mandarin for the travel trade and MICE markets, covering a range of world-class attractions from Culzean Castle and Inverewe Garden, to Falkland Palace and Culloden Battlefield. Pietro Cecchini, head of travel trade at the trust, said: ‘We’re delighted to have Ting on board as our China representative, demonstrating our commitment to this rapidly expanding market. Ting’s enthusiasm, language skills and knowledge of both the trust and China markets will ensure we are best placed to maximise business opportunities for 2014 and beyond.’

Mary Rance, the current chief executive of UKinbound has announced she is leaving at the end of the year in order to head up the charity Contact the Elderly. Rance has been at UKinbound since September 2008 and is credited with transforming and repositioning the association into one of the leading trade bodies in tourism, and the only trade body to represent inbound tourism to the UK. Rance said: ‘Naturally I am sad to be leaving UKinbound but glad to be leaving the organisation in such good shape. When I joined the organisation I developed an ambitious growth strategy, a plan to double the membership, increase our influence and enhance the business benefits for our membership, all of which have been achieved or on track. I have loved being a part of the travel industry and will miss it but I believe my future now lies in the charitable sector.’ UKinbound’s chairman Rita Beckwith said: ‘We are sad to be saying goodbye to Mary who has done a wonderful job at the helm of UKinbound these past five years. She leaves our organisation in superb shape in terms of membership satisfaction and industry influence and she has driven a political lobbying campaign that has made the voice of inbound tourism heard in Westminster. We have a business plan in place to further growth and the hunt is now on for her successor.’

Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt has passed away at the age of 82 following a short illness. Bill Ferris, chief executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, said: ‘Sir Nicholas was a much loved and highly effective chairman who led Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust through a period of major renewal and development which saw many of the dockyard’s historic buildings repaired and brought back into use, HMS Gannet (1878) restored and the future of HMS Cavalier secured ... Sir Nicholas joined the trust at the end of 1997, following the death of Sir William Staveley … [he] was instrumental in ensuring that the Historic Dockyard is now recognised as a thriving community in its own right as well as a successful tourist destination, leading museum and education resource. Following his retirement he retained a keen interest in the work of the trust and the development of the dockyard. He will be much missed and we offer our deepest sympathy to Lady Hunt and his family.’