Meet the team

Debbie has over 35 years’ industry experience, mainly in travel, and including 15 years in the broader "silver" sector. Previous roles have included Managing Director of Crystal Holidays, leading the travel division of a private equity company, and then taking the helm of award-winning villa specialist CV Villas and its sister company Ski Verbier between 2004-2010. When she turned 50, Debbie left the corporate sector and became an "olderpreneur", founding Silver Travel Advisor in 2011, the information, reviews and advice website for mature travellers, which was voted Best Travel Reviews website at the British Travel Awards in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2021, with Silver Travel Advisor moving to new ownership, she widened her experience in the silver sector, and set up the Silver Marketing Association with a team of industry veterans. She is passionate about ethical and responsible marketing to older consumers, and calling out ageism, which is something she now witnesses first hand! In 2024, Debbie was awarded the AWTE Outstanding Achievement Award which celebrates an individual who has demonstrated exceptional excellence and accomplished remarkable feats within the travel industry. In 2025, she received an "Inclusivity Angel" Highly Commended award for her work in the age sector. Debbie has been Chair for Dementia Adventure since 2022, and maintains a strong involvement in the travel industry previously as a non-executive director for The Thinking Traveller, and now for Bailey Robinson, Real Holidays, Villa Collective and Ramble Worldwide.

Michelle has over 25 years’ marketing experience in the travel industry in senior positions covering all marketing disciplines. She has led marketing teams with award winning companies including HF Holidays, Collette Travel, Wendy Wu Tours, Explore Travel and Inghams. In 2018, Michelle worked alongside Debbie and the team at Silver Travel Advisor in the Head of Partnerships position. Michelle has also held the voluntary position as PR Director with the AWTE (Association of Women Travel Executives) since 2018. Michelle is a keen mountain walker with adventures including trekking to Everest Base Camp, climbing Kilimanjaro, and completing the Inca Trail. More recently she has discovered a newfound love of wild swimming, where she has been identified as a ‘youngster’ as the majority are ‘silver’ swimmers. She has also just returned to competitive swimming after an absence of over 30 years, in the master’s age category, where swimmers are competing into their 80’s.

Steve is a well-known recruiter, with 36 years experience and a reputation for lateral and creative thinking to solve people challenges. He runs the recruiting functions for a portfolio of businesses both in commerce and in the Associations sector. He has also been a Non-Executive Director of several start up business. Steve has always campaigned against inequality and discrimination in the workplace. It remains a regret that over 15 years after the first UK legislation barring employment discrimination based on age, that instances of ageism, particularly against older workers, still remain an issue needing full eradication, and he is committed to working towards that goal. Previously, Steve was Chairman of The Recruitment Society and served as a Non-Executive Director for The Institute of Association Management. He also sits on the Court of City Livery Company, The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers. Steve’s is an Associate Member of the Fleet Air Arm Officer’s Association, and attends Parliamentary meetings as a Senate Member for the Genesis Initiative (co-ordinating body for SME organisations.) He has contributed to many Policy papers over the years to influence the Government in matters of best practice.

Hema is an accomplished B2B and B2C marketing strategist who has worked across multiple sectors for over 25 years. She is currently working for start-up companies within fintech and health tech to help drive growth and the best business outcomes. When Hema is not enjoying overseas travel, she is a keen charity fundraiser and every year completes walks and challenges in aid of Diabetes UK, Alzheimer's Society, Calm Zone and MacMillan.

From a successful 35-year journey in Education and Management – where she focussed on strategic and total quality management, marketing leadership and curriculum innovation - Carole redefined her career path and embraced a new chapter, mastering content creation and social media management. Now writing for a range of publications and online sites, she especially enjoys harnessing her unique insights into the needs and preferences of older consumers. Her clients include Silver Travel Advisor and the Silver Marketing Association. A true adventurer at heart, Carole loves exploring the world, connecting with family across Portugal, Canada, and the US. Back home, she finds joy and inspiration hiking and birding in her local hills and moors.

After a long and successful career in media, predominantly spent at DMGT, in 2007 Sally set up her own Management Consultancy/Coach-Mentoring company and worked with well-established companies, both media and otherwise. One of these was Accord, an award-winning and proudly independent marketing agency specialising in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality sector. She was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Accord in 2007, COO in 2013 and CEO in April 2015. A highly energetic, enthusiastic, and focused operator with a proven track record in commercial development, change management and strategic planning, Sally sits at the heart of the agency, building a collaborative culture, which she believes ultimately drives the best performance. In 2018 Sally was appointed Chair of the Mature Marketing Association - an organisation focused entirely on the over-50s - promoting best practice marketing, facilitating networking events and investing in relevant, thought-provoking research and data. The MMA subsequently evolved in 2021 to become the Silver Marketing Association of which she is now a director.

Roger Bray has been writing on developments in travel as they affect consumers over some 50 years. He reported growth and problems of the package holiday business, the deregulation of airlines and the rise of low fare flying. He covered the rapid expansion of leisure travel to North America and the opening of China to tourism, chronicled the rise and fall of entrepreneurs including Sir Freddie Laker and was a passenger on British Airway's inaugural Concorde flight. Roger spent some two decades covering travel and aviation for London's Evening Standard and has won awards including one for his lifetime contribution to travel writing. He was joint author of Flight to the Sun, a history of the explosion in British leisure travel since the Second World War and is an independent member of a committee advising on financial protection for travellers booking air holidays.