A NEW managing director has been appointed to take over at the helm of York-based short holiday specialist Superbreak.

The company, which employs a team of 160 people from its office in Eboracum Way, has announced the appointment of Darren Neylon to the role.

Mr Neylon, who joined Superbreak as marketing, e-commerce and commercial director in September 2010, was appointed assistant managing director in April 2013 before assuming the managing director position in the place of Karel Vos.

The move contributes to wider changes within the Cox & Kings Group, with a focus on establishing a senior leadership team in SuperBreak which best meets the challenges of achieving growth in the UK domestic market as well as further abroad.

Karel will continue within the Group as managing director for sister company, Bookit, which is also included in the Group's expansion plans and faces a similar growth opportunity.

Mr Neylon said: "We are committed to pushing SuperBreak ever forward towards its goal of being a truly flexible, global short break package specialist.

"Our priority is to grow our brand awareness in consumer markets and deliver the outstanding customer experience which has come to be synonymous with our brand.

"We are in the best possible position to proactively deliver exceptional service to our customers and also respond to the ever increasing global market opportunity, particularly with the help of our supportive shareholder, Cox & Kings, who have an existing global presence.

"We look forward to an exciting future as the go-to short break specialist in the UK as well as abroad, doing all we can to ensure our customers have the ultimate SuperBreak experience with us."

Superbreak has operated out of York since 1990, and is a finalist in tomorrow's Press Business Awards. Recent marketing investment initiatives in the company included a major rebrand in April and the launch of its first TV campaign in the summer.