About Us

Lucy Newton
Performing Arts Product Manager

Lucy has always had a passion for Performing Arts. Before joining COGO Travel, Lucy was a Musical Theatre actress appearing in London's West End playing roles including Glinda in Wicked and Eponine in Les Miserables. Lucy's background has leant itself perfectly to her role here, sharing her knowledge, creating tailored tours and giving advice on everything from passing auditions, dance routines, costumes and so much more. Whether you’re performing at Disneyland^® Paris, singing with your choir in Austria or heading to Broadway with a trip to New York – her mission is to make your performance dreams come true with the support and dedication you won’t find anywhere else!

FUN FACT – Lucy reached the live shows on X factor in 2006 with the Acapella Vocal group The Unconventionals.

Krissie Allcock
Performing Arts Sales Administrator

Krissie is new to the travel industry having recently graduated from university with a first-class BA Honours degree in Musical Theatre. She has plenty of energy and enthusiasm for Performing Arts and is passionate about making dreams come true for both child and adult groups. Krissie has co-written and starred in shows for the Brighton Fringe and has toured the South coast with the professional vocal company, Kompact. She has also taught musical theatre to ages 3-18 for the last 4 years and is thrilled to be in a role where she can build trips which are guaranteed to provide life changing experiences!

FUN FACT – Krissie is a keen painter!

Fiona Cullen
Sales Account Manager (Education)

Fiona went on school tours herself to Europe and as far afield as Russia and New York which instilled in her a passion for travel from a young age. She has over 12 years’ experience working in the school travel sector and really understands the requirements of her party leaders to ensure the most successful trips for their groups. She has run stands at educational shows and conferences meeting teachers and discussing the benefits of school trips for their students.

FUN FACT – Fiona has competed horses at a National level and was Side Saddle Equitation riding champion of the South West of England.

Sharon Langner
Sales Account Manager (Education)

Sharon brings a wealth of experience to COGO Travel having organised group tours for both leisure and educational markets for more than 13 years! She’s ambitious, helpful and always looking for ways to make tours engaging and tailored to the needs of schools and their students. She strives to make the whole booking process as easy as possible for group leaders, and has a special interest in Germany, having previously lived there for several years, she is fluent in the language and there’s not a lot about German educational trips that Sharon doesn’t know.

FUN FACT – Sharon doesn’t own a pair of flat shoes – it’s stilettos all the way!

Phillipa Giles
Sales Account Manager (Leisure)

She’s been part of the COGO travel for nearly 6 years. Starting in the Education Department before switching to Leisure. Phillipa has continuously strived to develop and grow this area by offering a diverse range of destinations enabling her to grow the client base. She enjoys meeting clients as well as forming new business relationships. One of the highlights of her role is getting to work with businesses from the planning stage of their group trip right through to hearing their feedback after they’ve returned. Phillipa thrives on researching new destinations and tours for her clients and constantly looks to see how she can add value.

FUN FACT – She’s completed the 3 peaks challenge with 6 minutes to spare and aims to run a marathon 2020!

Julie Guinaud
Tours Manager

Originally from Bordeaux, Julie has been living in the UK for over 10 years. She is passionate about travel, languages and art. Back in France she used to be a museum guide for visiting school children. Since living in Brighton, Julie has worked for various Tour Operators before making Voyager and COGO her home. She loves researching exciting new visits for groups to discover. Her organisational skills and eye for detail will help her put together the most memorable tours!

FUN FACT – Julie hiked up Table Mountain, South Africa

Samantha Watsham

Sammi has worked for COGO Travel since 2016 and always had a passion for travel having completed a degree in the Business of Travel Management. She specialises in organising memorable trips for Performing Arts groups in Disneyland^® Paris, as well as worldwide group educational trips. The highly organised Sammi takes pride in her work and ensures her clients receive the best customer service. She also enjoys building relationships with clients and helping them out wherever she can to ensure they have a fabulous trip!

FUN FACT – She has an identical twin sister and enjoys all things country – yee ha!

Elaine Henry
Tour Coordinator

An original Brightonian, Elaine has a solid background in the travel industry. She has travelled extensively but still has many destinations on her bucket list. Her understanding of the business means she has excellent product knowledge to share with her Leisure clients. In addition, her well-developed organisational skills help her to put together great itineraries that offer fun and learning opportunities for adult groups.

FUN FACT – Elaine’s colleagues would love her to feature on First Dates Hotel.

Samuel Thomas
Tour Coordinator

Sam‘s passion for travel started at a very young age on his very own school trip to Paris! He understands the importance of organising the most stress-free tours and will make sure you receive all the support and advice you need to prepare for a fantastic experience abroad. Nothing is ever too much and Sam will do all he can to meet your requirements. His enthusiasm has no equal, we can always count on him to lift the office’s spirits!

FUN FACT – Spent 2 years on a working holiday in Australia which included scuba diving on the great barrier reef, luckily no shark encounters!

Martin Salisbury
Sales Account Manager (School Residentials)

Martin has been working for COGO Travel’s dealing with Residential Schools Groups for children aged between 7 and 16 years old. Having worked with Junior School groups since 2016 and before that in the adventure sphere for schools, he has a real passion for Learning outside The Classroom (LoTC) and the benefits it brings to children. Martin has also been key in developing COGO Junior School activity product by listening to his customer feedback and working hard to action their recommendations.

FUN FACT – Martin has a passion for leathers and motorbikes!