Vince Flower, previously a Director of Shearing’s Leisure Group and former Managing Director of Bay Hotels was born and raised in Torquay. After leaving school Vince took an Ordinary National Diploma in Business Studies at South Devon College, followed by a Diploma in Management Studies course at Plymouth Polytechnic while training as a manager at a local holiday business.

Vince has forty years’ experience working full time in the holiday leisure sector. His first ever job was at Beesons Holiday Centre which was located in Kingskerswell Road in Torquay.

When the Ladbroke Group acquired the local holiday business where Vince worked, it opened up a number of opportunities. He spent eight years managing various holiday villages and catering concessions, including those located at Kew Gardens and the Tower of London for the company.

During his career, he worked his way up through the ranks to become the Managing Director of Shearings Hotels, part of the Specialist Leisure Group. The Shearings business continues to be a very significant contributor to the English Riviera Tourism sector with the business attracting over 50,000 visitors to the area each year. He is passionate about the Bay and greatly enjoyed being part of that industry for so long.  As Managing Director at Shearings, he provided comprehensive oversight of the hotel operations for the 50 hotels located all around the UK with a turnover greater than £70M and employing over 1,600 staff.

He had the great pleasure of representing the group on ABTA’s Sustainable Tourism Steering Committee for ten years, working with leaders from the sector, helping develop and implement world leading policies and standards.

Having spent the ten years on the Board of Governors at South Devon College where he was the Chair up until July 2010, he is now the Chair of the Board of Governors at Torquay Academy. Vince previously served on the Board of TDA and was appointed Chair in 2015.