London-based specialist in airport planning and retail design The Design Solution (TDS) has named Filip Soete (pictured) as Global Business Development Consultant. He reports to TDS Managing Director Robbie Gill.
Co-owner of KOL Agency, Soete is best known in the travel retail community for a distinguished 23-year career as Chief Commercial Officer at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport.
A statement said Soete will support TDS in its growth programme “as it seeks to further consolidate its position as one of the industry’s leading providers of specialist support, offering a unique spectrum of services encompassing airport planning, travel retail design, F&B planning and design and branding”.
TDS Director Nick Taylor said: “We are delighted to welcome the arrival of Filip as a powerful marker in our growth plans. As a respected and much-liked figure in the airport world, he blends immense experience of airport operations, including the highly successful transformation of the passenger experience and non-aeronautical revenue performance at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport.
“Within this, he holds a deep understanding of how TDS operates from our work at Nice Airport across a number of major development projects over the past twenty years or so.
“Filip shares our commitment to creating airport environments that enhance the passenger and shopper experiences while delivering highly effective commercial returns, making him the ideal industry ambassador for our work.”
He added: “The TDS team offers an incredible range of resources in a cosmopolitan mix of architects, designers, planners and creatives gathered from 22 countries, and we’re also developing our specialist skills in a number of areas to expand and deepen the range of services and support that we provide to airports, retailers, brands and F&B operators, as well as retailers outside the travel retail world.
“This focused growth strategy includes our two new directors, Kevin Patience and Tom Johnson, taking responsibility to further deepen our skillset in areas such as F&B design and the pioneering adoption of new digital technology in the design process. This year, we are deep in projects in over a dozen countries across all four continents, and we look forward to meeting industry colleagues in Cannes.”
Filip Soete commented: “KOL Agency is honoured and delighted to support The Design Solution, the industry-renowned, best-in-class architecture and design agency, in its global business development strategy. We will proactively engage with key stakeholders across the travel retail and airport sectors to explore every business opportunity, including delivering new standards of passenger experience and supporting the revenue performance of retail and airport partners.
“I’m delighted to once again be working with TDS and thank Robbie, Graeme, Nick, Kevin, Tom and the entire TDS team for their trust and support, and I look forward to supporting the company in its exciting future growth plans.”
Founded by Robbie Gill in 1984, TDS has carried out over 1,000 design projects and supported over 180 airports in 86 countries.
The company marked its 40th anniversary last year by establishing a new ownership model to support its long-term growth. This new structure placed the company under the ownership of its employees through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
The growth strategy confirmed director roles for long-time company members Kevin Patience and Tom Johnson, each with over ten years of experience with the company, and assigned them responsibility for deepening the company’s expertise in F&B design and its adoption of digital technology, respectively. ✈
