Clipper’s Tall relinquishes CEO role

A year after taking over as chief executive of the company she founded in 1986, Merideth Tall is stepping back to her role as chairwoman of the board of the Victoria Clipper.

In a letter to tourism industry stakeholders, Tall said Clipper is on the cusp of “great opportunity” and that she remains bullish on its future. “I remain passionate about our commercial and personal relationship, and will continue to engage with you on new ideas and new customer experiences, as I always have,” Tall said.

“One year ago, I came in as Clipper [chief executive] for a particular purpose, and that was to position Clipper for strategic growth through innovation to better serve our customers,” she said. “Since then, we have accomplished extraordinary things.”

Tall pointed out that over the last year the company sold a majority stake to Germany’s FRS, a global ferry and shipping firm, which intends to expand operations to include a new harbour-to-harbour service between Victoria and Vancouver. Clipper runs a highspeed passenger-only service between Victoria and Seattle,

The expansion to include a route to Vancouver has been delayed until next year, as the company has not yet secured the right vessel for the route.

Kostas Mallios will take over the chief executive role at Clipper. He has been on Clipper’s board for the last 18 months.

“I am a firm believer in the market opportunity Clipper and our partners have before it. Now as part of the FRS Group, I believe more than ever that our brightest common future is ahead of us,” Mallios said. “My hope is we seize our common opportunity together based on years of joint co-operation, new product development, and new ways to attract tourists.”

It’s been a year of change for Clipper. Longtime CEO Darrell Bryan retired after 29 years last May. Soon after, Tall took over the role and she announced the sale to FRS.