Our team

Martin Randall

Creative Director

Martin founded the company in 1988 to combine his background and continuing passion for art history and music with what he had learnt from ten years in the travel business. He has a BA (Hons) in the History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London University, and studied aesthetics in the Philosophy Department York University. After a number of temporary and part-time posts in the museum world, and spending a year in both Italy and Germany, he turned to specialist tour operating. He stepped down as Chief Executive in April to take on the new role of Creative Director. This allows him to retain a leading role in the planning of the company’s tours and festivals and in shaping company strategy, policies and practices. He has been on the board of ABTA, the Association of Independent Tour Operators, Classical Opera and History Today. 

Fiona Charrington

Chief Executive

Fiona joined MRT in 1997. She has had a variety of roles during her MRT career within the Operations, Client Relationship and Marketing Departments and has helped grow the company to become one of the world’s leading providers of cultural tours and events. She joined the board in 2005 and soon after became Chief Operating Officer. In April 2019 she became Chief Executive, taking over from Martin Randall.

Fiona is an active member of the trade association AITO, of which she was a director between 2005–2009. She has lived in France, Italy and Spain and has travelled widely across Europe, the US, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East.

Charlotte Crow

Director, Academic & Content

Charlotte joined MRT in 2015. As former Deputy Editor of History Today magazine, she has worked with many leading academics and historians. A regular judge for the Grierson Documentary awards, she has freelanced for Britain magazine, The Times, and for
the Europa World Yearbook. She has been a panel judge for the AITO Travel Writer of the Year awards since 2020.

Straddling the Marketing and Operations departments with a focus on content and communication, she takes a lead in researching and recruiting new lecturers and academic partnerships and is in-house Editor. She has regional operational oversight of the Middle East and is development manager for history and literature tours. She organises large-scale symposia for the Company and is responsible for the MRT Online Talks programme.

Edward Fairbairn

Operations Director

Edward joined MRT in 2016 and has a wide-ranging role overseeing our tours and events in Spain, Portugal, and France. He has a keen interest in the wider culture of these countries and spent time living in the Loire Valley and Barcelona as part of his undergraduate studies in French and Spanish at Durham.

He has travelled extensively on behalf of MRT, enhancing this knowledge and developing new tours. He has also been involved in many Martin Randall Festivals in Spain, France, Portugal, and the UK; in 2022 he managed Polyphony in Portugal and is managing the Divine Office Festival in 2024. Further responsibilities include work allocation and staff management, pricing, and shaping policies and procedures.

Maddy Nicholass

Operations Director

Maddy has worked for MRT since 2010. She began her career operating and then managing MRT’s tour programmes to Italy and German-speaking lands. She has also managed several Martin Randall Festivals. In the last 5 years, she has focused more on the finances behind all MRT’s events and is responsible for tour budgets, pricing, cost control, and regulatory compliance.

Maddy has a first-class degree in German and Italian and has lived in Munich, Frankfurt, and Venice. She is studying accountancy to develop her knowledge in this area.

Sarah Pullen

Operations Director

Sarah studied Music at Cardiff University where she specialised in performance. Prior to this, she spent a year living in Vietnam and travelling through Southeast Asia. She joined MRT in 2007 initially in the Client Relationship Department before moving to the Operations team. Here she took on responsibility for the development of the UK programme, expanding it to become one of MRT’s largest destinations, second only to Italy. She maintains an overview of this programme while further developing tours to Scandinavia and Asia – Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Utilising her musical background, Sarah has managed many Martin Randall Festivals across the UK, and in 2025 will be the Festival Manager for a new venture in Malta.

Lizzie Watson

Artistic Director

Lizzie joined MRT in 2008, working predominantly on German and Italian tours, before moving on to overseeing all Italian tours. She then became a Product Development Manager for Music and Gastronomy and was responsible for the rapid expansion of our programme of gastronomic tours. Now as Artistic Director, Lizzie has been involved in the planning and programming of almost every MRT music festival.

Lizzie is an accomplished musician, speaks Italian and German, and is a trained chef.

Sophie Watts

Operations Director

In her 17 years at MRT, Sophie has gained experience across many aspects of the Business and is particularly focused on providing outstanding customer service while developing the policies and strategy of the Operations department. She has undergone extensive training in the field of Health & Safety on tour and Crisis Management and trains our staff on these areas ensuring protocol is followed.

Sophie studied French and Spanish at Durham and is a musician and amateur musical director. She has developed many new tours for MRT, across Europe, Latin America, and to India, and has expanded the range of archaeology and walking tours.

Gary Whyte

Director, Marketing & IT

Gary joined Martin Randall Travel in 2011 and is responsible for marketing MRT’s growing catalogue of cultural tours and for managing the IT infrastructure.

He grew up in the Scottish Highlands and moved to London to study Criminology at City University – the first course of its kind to run in the UK. Leaning on his university training, he applies a forensic approach to his role: measuring, reporting, refining, to achieve the maximum return on a carefully controlled budget. He has driven major developments in the company’s IT capabilities and marketing strategy, most recently ensuring MRT’s successful and sustainable growth post-pandemic.

Gary has accompanied several MRT tours and festivals, to Spain, Germany, the US and within the UK.

Margherita De Fraja

Senior Product Manager

Margherita joined MRT in 2017 and is now Product Manager for Italy, working on and coordinating our extensive programme of tours. She also works on Portugal, France and the UK, and has been involved in various Martin Randall Festivals, including The Divine Office in 2021 and Polyphony in Portugal and Music in Venice in 2022. Alongside her operational responsibilities, she has chaired a number of our online webinars.

Margherita graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in French and Italian, and having been brought up bilingually she has strong ties to Italy. She loves to read and cook, and spends her remaining free time in London’s many museums and galleries.

Jo Felton

Senior Marketing Manager

Jo joined MRT in 2006 and, having worked in several areas at the company, is now Senior Marketing Manager. The majority of her time is spent on design and branding, managing production and mailing of our printed marketing materials, and working on projects such as video production. She also provides technical support for our series of online talks (occasionally stepping in as a chair), as well as general assistance to our Marketing Director. She has worked on our annual series of UK Chamber Music Breaks since she began at MRT, minus a hiatus from 2017–21. She has also worked on several of our music festivals over the years, including the very first Divine Office, and most recently Music in Suffolk Churches in 2022.

Her first love is music – Jo obtained her degree at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama – and she still plays her flute regularly with various non-professional groups. When not playing in concerts, she enjoys running, and crafting of all descriptions.

Liz Roe

Senior Client Relationship Manager

Liz completed her undergraduate degree in Ancient History at Royal Holloway, UoL, before going on to complete a Masters in Classical Art and Archaeology, with Roman History the centre of her studies. She started at MRT in September 2017, 4 days after submitting her MA dissertation. Liz is extremely passionate about travel and spent three months in Greece and Turkey prior to university.

In her spare time Liz enjoys playing the violin, and has been a member of various orchestras and quartets. Alongside this, she likes to keep fit by going for runs on the South Downs and playing rugby. 

Aniko Szucs

Senior Finance Manager (currently on maternity leave)

Aniko has worked in the Finance Department of MRT since 2018, starting as an Assistant and rapidly progressing to Senior Finance Manager. She expects to be a fully qualified accountant in 2024 (CIMA).

She is a vital and integral part of MRT, covering a wide range of functions and providing support to the CEO and colleagues.

Before moving to the UK to pursue her accountancy career, Aniko studied travel and hotel management in her native Hungary.

Lydia Collier

Client Relationship & Office Manager

Lydia joined Martin Randall Travel in 2019, having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in Archaeology and History, and a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester. As well as having a keen interest in history, Lydia plays the violin and piano, and enjoyed playing in university orchestras during her studies.

As a member of the Client Team, Lydia loves the opportunities she has to speak to clients whether over the phone or in person. She has accompanied our 2022 festivals Music in Suffolk and Music in Venice, along with our Chamber Music Breaks in Taunton, and our Whitehall London Day.

In her spare time, Lydia enjoys exploring London’s museums and galleries, trying out new restaurants, and she is also a keen baker.

Fred Gold

Product Manager

Fred joined MRT in 2017 and is the Product Manager for our Central and Eastern European programme. He is also closely involved in our tours to Germany, Austria, and India. In 2023, he managed the Martin Randall Festival Music along the Rhine and will manage Mozart along the Danube in the summer of 2024.

Fred graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in History and German, and has a particular affection for Berlin where he spent his year abroad. Outside of work, Fred enjoys playing bass guitar and going to the cinema – and is especially fond of silent films.

Domenico Laneve

Product Manager

Domenico was born and raised in the UNESCO town of Alberobello in the heel of Italy. He studied Philosophy before moving to Rome to complete a Masters in Event Management. He began his career in an event agency but refocused on art exhibition organisation, coordinating exhibitions in Italy and worldwide. He moved to London in 2013 where he joined the Guildhall Art Gallery team.

Domenico was recruited by MRT in 2016 to organise tours to the USA and Italy, gaining great pleasure from introducing his home area of Puglia to new visitors. He has worked on various music festivals including our 2017 festival Vivaldi in Venice, and in 2019, Opera in Southern Sicily. In 2022 he managed Music in Venice.

His remit has widened over the years and he is now the Product Manager for our Middle Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean programme, as well as for the USA. He has a great passion for all things American and dreams of driving across the country. He is fascinated by astronomy; one of his favourite trips was to the deserts of Jordan with their unpolluted night skies, somewhere he would like to return in the future.

Sarah Stallbohm

Product Manager

Sarah joined MRT in 2017 and is our Product Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2022 she managed the Martin Randall Festival Music along the Danube and in September 2023 will manage The JS Bach Journey.

Sarah is bilingual; she was born in Hamburg and grew up in Fontainebleau. She moved back to Germany at the age of 13 where she completed her education. Her undergraduate studies were in History of Art during which she spent six months at the University of Siena as an Erasmus student. She went on to an MA in Language and Cultural Studies before moving to London in 2014.

With fluency in four languages, Sarah works across many geographical areas for us. When not working, her interests are in theatre, art and French cinema. She also enjoys sketching and going on long walks.

Holly Abrahamson

Operations Executive

Holly studied Italian and German at the University of Oxford, with a focus during her Masters on medieval and early modern lyric poetry. After graduating, she joined MRT in June 2022, and is responsible for operating tours in Italy, Germany and the UK. Originally from the Gold Coast, Australia, she is enthusiastic about foreign languages and travel. In her spare time, she enjoys walking and reading fiction from all ages. Along with this, she travels to the coast to swim in the sea as much as possible.

Tom De Souza

Operations Executive

Tom studied Spanish and French at the University of Southampton, including a year at UPF in Barcelona, sparking an interest in the sociolinguistic landscape of Spain and its autonomous communities. 
At MRT he operates tours to Spain and France, as well as some going further east to Malta, Turkey and Oman. 
Tom has also worked as a researcher in the South American department of a legal directory and within the performance marketing team for an online vocational training provider. Prior to joining MRT, he spent a month taking the shinkansen through Japan, with stopovers in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Now sitting top of Tom’s travel wishlist are the Philippines, Istanbul and the Scottish Highlands.

Lucia Di Cicco

Operations Executive

Lucia joined the Operations team at Martin Randall Travel in 2022, shortly after submitting her Master’s dissertation in Translation Studies. She has a background in languages, having previously read German and Italian at Durham University which included a year split between Bielefeld and Mirandola near Modena.

Lucia has a keen interest in German exophonic literature and Italian neorealist cinema. She plays the violin and has been a member of various orchestras, one of which she had the pleasure of performing with at the Vigadó concert hall in Budapest.

In her free time, Lucia is a project manager for the Erasmus Student Network, liaising between the UK and international levels of the organisation.

Iona Godfrey-Faussett

Operations Executive

Iona joined the Operations Department at Martin Randall Travel in 2022 having recently completed a Master’s in Translation at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. Prior to that she studied French and Italian at Durham University which included a year in Modena, a city she loves and returns to as often as possible. She has also spent time teaching English as a foreign language in both France and Italy.

She has a life-long passion for the arts, having played in numerous orchestras and chamber groups, and being a keen artist and dancer. While originally from Scotland and at home in the outdoors, she loves making the most of all the art galleries, concert halls and theatres on offer in London.

Lily Graham-Stewart

Operations Executive

Nia Kile

Operations Executive

After completing her degree in Spanish and Italian at Durham University, Nia joined the Operations team at Martin Randall Travel in 2022. She was born in the US and frequent trips to visit family there mean she has always fostered an international outlook, fuelling her desire to explore other countries and their traditions.

Nia’s love for European culture deepened during her studies, with a year abroad in Siena and Seville. Here she experienced first-hand the art she had learnt about in her lectures. A keen musician, Nia plays piano and clarinet, and has sung in choirs since she was a child.

Food and cooking occupy much of Nia’s free time. She also enjoys running, sampling London’s best bakeries and reading historical fiction.

Romey Kinsella

Client Relationship Executive

While studying English at the University of Nottingham Romey developed a keen interest in literature and drama. She looks forward to extending and diversifying this appreciation of the arts during her time working at MRT.

Prior to and during university holidays, Romey spent as much time as possible living and working in the French Alps. This has inspired a love of mountain sports and the French language – which she has hopes of learning to speak fluently.

Outside of work, Romey enjoys reading, painting and going to the theatre.

Sam Newton

Operations Assistant

Claire Plarre

Operations Assistant

Kent Pringle

Marketing Executive

Kent joined the marketing department of Martin Randall Travel in 2022 having studied History at the University of Exeter followed by a Master’s in Cultural Heritage Studies at University College London.  His post-graduate studies covered a wide range of topics from medieval archaeology of Britain to post-industrial heritage and he complemented these by volunteering at House Mill in Bromley-by-Bow.

Academic endeavours aside, Kent enjoys visiting his family in Japan, having been raised within both English and Japanese contexts. Closer to home, he enjoys planning walks in the East Anglian countryside, typically ending with a pub lunch.

Sara Stecca

Operations Executive

Originally from Padua, Italy, Sara studied German and Russian in high school before moving to the UK. She completed a BA in International Festival and Event Management with German in Edinburgh, followed by an MA in Museum Studies at University College London. She now works full time at MRT, where she is responsible for operating tours to Italy and Germany. In her free time, Sara enjoys horse riding, hiking, and swimming.

Maryam Taha

Finance Executive

Freya Williams

Client Relationship Executive

Freya joined the Client Relationship Department of MRT in the summer of 2022. Shortly afterwards she submitted her dissertation on English Literary Tourism, with a focus on children’s literature, for her Master’s degree in Cultural Tourism and Policy at Goldsmiths College, University of London. For her undergraduate degree, Freya studied Japanese and English literature at Birkbeck College, University of London, and spent a year abroad in Tokyo, where she developed a keen interest in cultural tourism and travel.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading fiction, watching a wide variety of films and trying to keep up with her Japanese studies.

Tom Gower

Operations Assistant

Katharina Schramm

Client Relationship & Marketing Assistant

Katharina joined the Client Relationship and Marketing departments of MRT in 2023 having studied English Literature and History at Durham University followed by a Master’s degree in Early Modern History at King’s College London.

She is looking forward to continuing to explore her passion for history, art and languages through her work at MRT. Having been born and raised in Germany, she loves to travel and has particularly enjoyed exploring Southeast Asia after finishing school.

In her free time, she is passionate about reading, skiing and walking in the countryside.