Our people

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere so just keep on rolling under the stars”

If travel and storytelling go hand-in-hand, then our experts are definitely in the right job. They’ve lived in our destinations, and spent a lot of time exploring. Their stories are our inspiration. Their knowledge is the basis for organising your perfect trip – and they’ll be excited to hear all your stories when you return, too. Here’s just some of our London and New York team…

Emma
DIRECTOR OF PR

Emma de Vadder

Puddle jumping in the Lake District, scrambling up sand dunes in Cornwall, and searching for Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest are among my earliest travel memories. Happily, I’ve traveled further afield since my humble childhood vacations. Years later, my appetite for exploring the world has never diminished, leading me to develop a career firmly rooted in travel. I’ve represented destinations including England and New York City, and fulfilled my early dream of living in NYC for almost a decade. As a result, I’ve traveled extensively throughout the US, including a three-month cross country (and back again) road trip, soaking up the epic environments of America’s majestic National Parks. A wise man once said they’re America’s greatest invention. I’m inclined to agree.

As the wife of an architect, I’m equally content seeing a destination through the lens of a true creative. Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces, Fallingwater and Taliesin West, solidified my admiration for mid-century modern design. Meanwhile, Unité d’Habitation in Marseille brought me a new appreciation for Le Corbusier’s modernism. While my personal and professional travels have taken me to locations far and wide – Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Iceland, Mexico, Thailand and India to name a few – working at Black Tomato as UK Director of PR is a daily reminder that there is so much more of our beautiful planet to discover – ideally in unique Black Tomato style.

Rosie
Head of Client Relations & Loyalty

Rosie Allan

My childhood summers were spent scrambling up mountains in the Lake District and sailing around the Mediterranean. These seminal experiences sparked my passion for discovering different cultures, landscapes and wildlife, and eventually led me to study geography at the University of Nottingham.

Since I finished my degree, I have been fortunate to travel widely across five continents. Some highlights include hiking to the top of a glacial lake on Mt. Cook in New Zealand; swimming alongside whale sharks in Mexico and accompanying an anti-poaching patrol whilst working on a game reserve in South Africa. I had caught the travel bug.

Determined to combine my studies and passion I sought a career in Travel, starting out in Marketing at Maybourne Hotel Group (owners of three luxury London hotels including the iconic Claridge’s, the Berkeley and the Connaught) and then later moving to the globally renowned Virgin brand determined to develop and learn best in class customer experience. I am now fortunate to work at Black Tomato, leading the Client Relations team. I feel privileged to be working for such a dynamic luxury brand, speaking directly with our clients and hearing their personal travel experiences. These help us to constantly evolve our offering as we strive to create the ultimate customer experience for our clients.

My parents first taught me the magic of travel and adventure. Today I work at Black Tomato because I want to share that magic with other people.

Brendan
Director of Public Relations & Communications

Brendan Drewniany

My love affair with travel started when I was 5 years old, headed for an extended stay with my parents in London and the Cotswolds. Reared by two academics, travel was always a part of my life and proud to say I was the youngest member of the Thomas Hardy Society. While I may not have followed the winding road to academia, I found myself a lover of words and communication and fused this with the world of food, wine and travel. I was fortunate enough to work agency-side representing remarkable Relais & Chateaux and Small Luxury Hotel properties alongside some big names in food. The vines eventually wound themselves around my legs and I represented both small and large-scale vineyards, wine regions and spirits producers, including such Rias Baixas, Esporao and Martin Miller’s Gin. Travel was always an integral part of the stories I would tell with the media and took me to Portugal, Spain, and even Iceland. After a tenure leading the US PR efforts for global luxury powerhouse brands such as Cole Haan, I was routed back to travel with the inspiring team at Black Tomato, where I belonged all along. Being able to collaborate with a team as well-traveled, well-versed and creative is a privilege and leading the US Communications strategy rewarding. Each day offers a new challenge, inspiration and stokes my inner-adventurer. I’ve traveled all over the world, though not yet been to Asia…but that is definitely next up.

Black Tomato Group

From the original Black Tomato, our group has grown organically, always as a response to what our clients have said they loved, wanted or needed. We’re now a collection of four innovative teams – Black Tomato, Black Tomato Agency, Epic Tomato and Studio Black Tomato. We create remarkable, bespoke travel experiences for individuals and groups, and inspiring content for selected brands and businesses.

From our headquarters in Shoreditch, London, and our office in New York, here’s what we do:

Black Tomato

Black Tomato is the award-winning, luxury travel company that specializes in creating rare, wonderful and life-enhancing experiences for individuals. We’re here to encourage and indulge your curiosity about the world – and to ensure your time away is perfect. We’ll provide you with insightful, curated travel advice and a bespoke itinerary, organized to perfection. Since 2005 we have taken an independent, innovative approach, inspired by our own restless curiosity and a passion for service that’s creatively shaped around individuals.

Black Tomato Agency

Black Tomato Agency is an award-winning team dedicated to group incentive travel and prize fulfilment. We take a Black Tomato experience and use it as a tool to influence, motivate, educate and unite a group of people – all over the world. As proof of our success, we count FTSE100 companies and well-known household brands among our satisfied clients.

Epic Tomato

Epic Tomato specializes in expedition-led adventures to remote corners of the world. Having organized specialist trips like these for a number of years, we’ve created a standalone brand that focuses on offering the very best and rarest of life-changing adventure travel experiences.

Studio Black Tomato

Studio Black Tomato is our content, marketing and brand strategy agency, born organically from Black Tomato’s innovative approach to travel marketing. We started by producing content for tourist boards and hotel groups. Now we create strategic, impactful content, consult within the luxury industry and implement campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world.