TRBusiness

Our story

Since October 1997 TRBusiness magazine (formerly known as The Duty Free Business) has been providing its news reporting and unrivalled analytical commentary to the duty free/travel retail industry’s leaders and decision makers.

Launched into an overcrowded trade media market place in the late 1990s during the Asian economic crisis and in the shadow of (the eventual) abolition of intra-EU duty free, it was viewed (by some) as the magazine that would never survive.

Two decades on it is perceived as an indispensable and truly serious business-to-business journal with the highest editorial to advertising ratio of any trade magazine by far.

The magazine has enjoyed continued and significant advertising support from the leading names in the luxury goods industry and witnessed other magazines covering the market either completely disappear, or be forced to reduce their frequency (and/or) pagination.

The owners

Nigel Hardy, Co-Owner & Joint Chief Executive Officer

Nigel joined the duty free trade press in 1991 working on Travel Retailer International where he was largely responsible for its economic success during the seven years he spent at Raven Fox.

Nigel joined The Duty Free Business magazine in February 1998 as Marketing Director and became International Sales & Marketing Director, following the management buy out of The Travel Retail Business in July 2004.

Prior to his entry into the duty free media, he worked as a Eurobond and Japanese Equity Warrants trader on The London Stock Exchange.

 

T: +44 (0)1883 62 30 20

E: nigel @ trbusiness.com

Skype: nigeljhardy

 

Janice Hook, Co-Owner & Joint Chief Executive Officer

Janice began her accounting career in 1994, working for a government agency formally known as “The Milk Marketing Board”. After successful training, she continued to progress and in 1997 was appointed Financial Controller for an international alcohol importer.

She then moved into the private medical sector where her career excelled. Janice was approached by the Duty Free Business magazine in 2001 to become Group Company Accountant.

Following a management buy out in July 2004 she became an equal partner at The Travel Retail Business magazine (TRBusiness) and now boasts over 14 years of experience in the B2B travel retail trade media.

 

T: +44 (0)20 8330 9444

E: janice @ trbusiness.com

Skype: janice.hook

 

Meet our people

Ben Webb, Managing Director

Ben has been working with brands, suppliers and retailers in a busy B2B trade press environment for over 12 years.

His sales career to date includes five and a half years at UK-based grocery retail magazine Independent Retail News (IRN) and two and a half years at Frontier Magazine. Ben joined TRBusiness in May 2011 and quickly progressed to the role of Business Development Manager. In October 2014 he became Commercial Sales Manager.

In November 2022, he was once again promoted to the role of Managing Director.

 

 

T: +44 (0) 1732 760827

E: ben @ trbusiness.com

Skype: benwebb001

 

Luke Barras-Hill, Editorial Director

With more than 12 years’ journalistic experience, Barras-Hill has held senior editorial positions across a variety of B2B publications covering the international luxury goods markets, finance, public realm and built environment sectors. He joined TRBusiness in 2017 as Deputy Editor and became Managing Editor in July 2021. In February 2023, he was promoted to Editorial Director.

Formerly, Luke was Managing Editor of African Review of Business & Technology, the leading English-language technical magazine serving the continent.

He also spent time as Business and Finance Editor and Acting Editor for Frontier magazine, playing a pivotal role in enhancing its business coverage across channels, in addition to re-launching the Frontier Buyers’ Guide (formerly Frontier Brands).

He holds an NCTJ preliminary certificate in newspaper journalism.

T: +44 (0) 207 6102 782

E: Luke @ trbusiness.com

Skype: vanlukavich

 

Helen Chater, Head of Sales
Helen has been working in the B2B Publishing world for 30 years. With roles spanning sales exec to, most recently, publisher, her experience spans the food and drink, independent retail and travel retail sectors.

In her previous role as Publisher of DFNI, Helen contributed to a redesign, repositioning of the Frontier Awards back to a market leading event and significant growth and success of the Cruise Conference.

Helen joined TRBusiness in May 2020 and is focused on identifying new opportunities and new partners to meet the needs of the travel retail market.

 

T: +44 (0) 1892 861747

E: Helen @ trbusiness.com

Skype: Helen Chater TRB

 

Caryn Collins. Head of Events

Caryn was appointed to the newly created full-time position of Head of Events in February 2024.

Caryn’s resume includes seven years as Head of Events & Operations with her main client being Tui Travel where she managed overseas events and entertainment for approximately 40 hotels and 150 staff across Europe. This is in addition to seven years at business publisher William Reed as Event Manager, responsible for various events within its portfolio.

Most recently, she held the position of Events Manager at Lewis Business Media where she oversaw the end-to-end operation of corporate, bespoke awards dinners and conferences for the company’s publications.

E: caryn @ trbusiness.com

 

Faye Bartle, Managing Editor, Digital | Marketing
Faye has worked on a roster of leading print publications, as well as websites, social media channels and other editorial projects, in the UK and the Middle East region.

She began reporting on the travel retail industry in 2004, writing for the TFWA Dailies and later for the Travel Retail Business (as this publication was known then).

Faye joined TRBusiness in May 2022.

 

 

T: +44 (0) 77191 53266

E: faye @ trbusiness.com

Skype: Faye Bartle

 

Benedict Evans, Content Editor

London-based Benedict Evans joined the team in February 2024 as Content Editor from Mark Allen Group, where he has spent the past few years gaining valuable experience working in a fast-paced publishing environment, supporting the company’s editorial, events and marketing functions in sectors such as technology and engineering.

An NCTJ-qualified journalist, Evans possesses skills in print, digital and multimedia journalism.

E: benedict @ trbusiness.com

 

Ric Blow, Head of Design, Production & Multimedia

Ric brings over 15 years of experience to the TRBusiness team, having joined in July 2013. With previous roles in the fields of television, music promotion, animation and graphic design, he has a broad knowledge of the creative industries. He joined the company after five years of managing production at Frontier Magazine, where he also developed the concept for Brandsforbuyers; a TR specific product website.

Ric has a BA (Hons) in Communication Media from KIAD (now University for the Creative Arts) where he specialised in audio visual production.

 

T: +44 (0) 1323 894821

E: ric @ trbusiness.com

Skype: ric.blow

Alex Hardy, Design Assistant

E: alex @ trbusiness.com

 

Danielle Edwards, Accounts Assistant

Danielle completed her studies at Kington university and moved into the finance industry whereby she developed considerable experienced as a Personal Assistant.

She then moved into the aviation sector for Virgin Atlantic for a few years before starting a family.

In her spare time Danielle trained to become a SEND support worker in the education sector and enjoyed helping young children overcome various learning challenges.

After several years Danielle decided to move into an administration role that supports our back office, whereby she has become an integral part of our business.

E: danielle @trbusiness.com

 

Sian Hook, Awards Co-ordinator/Accounts Assistant

Sian began her career in logistics and planning working for the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company, her organisational dexterity led to an opportunity to continue to develop within the judiciary sector with HMCTS and The Ministry of Justice.

Sian diverted her expertise to TRBusiness in 2012 where her ability has elevated our customer outreach and special events, Sian’s role is considered a vital part of the future for the travel retail business. 

E: sian @ trbusiness.com