Red Funnel Appoints New Operations Director

Red Funnel Ferries is delighted to announce the appointment of Leanna Lakes as its new Operations Director with immediate effect.

Leanna is a Master Mariner with over 20 years’ experience in the industry at both a national and international level. She joins Red Funnel from Condor Ferries where she held the position of Head of Safety & Compliance for the last three years, working closely to drive cultural improvement and bring practical solutions to reduce operational risk.

As a member of the Chamber of Shipping’s task force for bridge team management, and as a seafarer herself, Leanna is committed to serving the British shipping industry and championing the maritime industry as a professional career choice for all. Her appointment will attain executive board gender equality for Red Funnel Group as she joins CEO, Fran Collins and HR Director, Debbie Reed to make up a 50% female executive board of directors.

Fran Collins, CEO of Red Funnel Ferries commented, “We are delighted to welcome Leanna as Operations Director to Red Funnel. Leanna brings a wealth of experience with a proven track record for building strong teams and improving standards, and I am delighted that we will benefit from her industry expertise.”

“As an unintended consequence of Leanna’s appointment, I am also very proud that Red Funnel Group will achieve gender equality on its executive board. This is fantastic news for both Red Funnel and aspiring female seafarers in what is historically a male-dominated industry.”

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For further information regarding Red Funnel, please contact:

Enya Lumley or Abi Rumney at McKenna Townsend

T: 01425 472330
E: [email protected]

Editor’s note

About Red Funnel

Red Funnel is the original Isle of Wight ferry company with roots tracing back to 1820. Based in the UK port of Southampton, Red Funnel carries 2.3m passengers and over 800,000 vehicles on its ferry route between the UK port of Southampton and East Cowes and 1.1m passengers between Southampton and West Cowes on its Red Jet Hi-Speed service.  In addition to ferry travel, Red Funnel is the only cross-Solent operator to offer ferry inclusive bonded holiday accommodation, attraction tickets, festival and event tickets and activity packages. Sub-brands include ‘Red Jet’ (the Hi-Speed passenger only ferry service serving West Cowes) and two food & beverage brands, ‘Steam Coffee Company’ and ‘ReFuel’.  The Company is a founder member of Visit Isle of Wight Ltd, the Island’s not for profit destination management organisation and Red Funnel sponsors or supports most of the Island’s premier events including the IW Festival, Cowes Week, Rhythm Tree, The Great Wonderfest, Wight Proms, Cowes Classics, and Walk the Wight as well as a range of community and niche interest events. Red Funnel’s Charity of the Year, 2020 is Isle of Wight Independent Lifeboats.

For more information visit: www.redfunnel.co.uk