SiteMinder welcomes former Xero Managing Director Trent Innes as Chief Growth Officer
SiteMinder bolsters leadership team with former Xero, Apple execs for next phase of growth
Sydney, Australia – SiteMinder, the world’s leading open hotel commerce platform, has welcomed former Xero Managing Director Trent Innes as Chief Growth Officer following a suite of category-defining award wins for the company’s hotel commerce platform as it enters its next growth phase.
Previously the Managing Director of Xero Australia and Asia, Trent has more than 20 years’ experience growing large businesses across the technology industry. During his eight-year tenure with Xero, he successfully scaled the company to reach more than 1 million subscribers. Prior to that, he held senior roles at Microsoft Australia and Infor.
Sankar Narayan, CEO & Managing Director at SiteMinder, said he is thrilled to welcome Trent following their partnership that helped grow Xero into a multi-market success.
“Having had the privilege of witnessing Trent’s leadership at Xero, I have seen first-hand his hyper-focus on customers and ability to scale a global business with cloud-based technology to one million subscribers. I am thrilled to welcome Trent to SiteMinder’s leadership team as we continue to forge an accelerated growth path during a continuing reopening of travel in 2023,” says Sankar Narayan, CEO & Managing Director at SiteMinder.
Passionate about fostering a thriving technology industry in Australia, Trent was recognised for his contribution to the industry when he was named the IT and Telecommunications Executive of the Year and also took home the coveted title of Managing Director of the Year at CEO Magazine’s 2017 Executive of the Year Awards.
Of his new position, Trent says he is excited to be a part of accelerating the growth of a global company carving a new category for the accommodation industry.
“Having watched SiteMinder’s growth over many years, I am thrilled to be joining such an innovative company making big moves globally, with market-leading technology that truly equips and empowers hoteliers to be the best commercial leaders they can be,” Trent says.
In addition to Trent’s new role, SiteMinder’s bolstered leadership team also includes former Apple executive Tim Howard, who joined the company as Chief Financial Officer in January. Bringing more than 20 years of commercial and corporate finance experience in technology companies to SiteMinder, Tim was CFO and COO at data analytics and AI-enabled messaging platform Ortto (previously Autopilot), a Blackbird SaaS business. Tim was also previously an Operating Partner with private equity firm Allegro Funds, and spent 11 years with Apple where he held multiple roles, including Chief Financial Officer of the Education and Retail Channels in EMEA and Head of Commercial in APAC.
Trent and Tim join SiteMinder following its category-defining suite of award wins at the 2023 HotelTechAwards, including Best Hotel eCommerce Platform, Best Booking Engine for the second consecutive year and the #1 Hotelier’s Choice Award. Having driven more than 100 million reservations for hoteliers in 2022, SiteMinder was also named Best Channel Manager for the fourth consecutive year.