NEWS 1
YOU NEED TO KNOW
AT A GLANCE Recent indie openings
NEW! Miles Morgan Travel
Thriving indie agents open new stores across the UK
Amie Keeley and Juliet Dennis
Independent agents across the UK are hailing the high street’s enduring popularity after expanding their bricks and mortar presence. Travel Weekly has this week
spoken to four travel agencies that have either opened new shops or moved into larger premises on the back of growing demand. Midlands-based chain
Millington Travel reported record sales for its newest shop in Melton Mowbray as it continues to grow at a rate of three branches a year. The store is the third new
branch to open since last August, following the opening of branches in Kettering and Nuneaton.
Nigel Armitage, managing
director, said: “Within the first six weeks the shop has smashed a few sales records. The town was crying out for an independent agency and this has started really well.” Prior to that, the group opened
three branches during the previous 12 months. Meanwhile, in Essex, the
East of England Co-op opened a new travel branch within its supermarket in Halstead last week. The shop, which employs three members of staff, took just under £27,000 in its first week of trading. Travel manager Caroline Thorne
said: “The industry as a whole is seeing more people returning to the high street to book holidays. Our focus is on having physical travel branches, rather than online sales.” In Somerset, independent
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travelweekly.co.uk 25 August 2016
“All those people that said the high street agent was dead could not be more wrong”
agency chain Miles Morgan Travel moved to larger premises in Taunton last week. The shop, located next to
a Thomson outlet in Orchard Shopping Centre, is three times the size of the previous store. It has two bureau de change desks, employs five staff and plans to recruit more in the near future. Morgan said: “The number of new clients we’ve attracted in the first week is really pleasing. “All those people that said high
street agencies were dead – they couldn’t be more wrong.”
l HAYS TRAVEL 120 shops Most recent openings: York, Chard, Exmouth, Tiverton
l MILES MORGAN TRAVEL 14 shops Most recent openings: Taunton, Bath
l MILLINGTON TRAVEL Nine shops Most recent openings: Melton Mowbray, Kettering, Nuneaton
l EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP 14 branches across Essex and Suffolk Most recent openings: Halstead, Clacton, Leiston
In Hampshire, Alresford Travel
is due to move in October into larger premises just five doors from its current location to keep up with demand. Owner and founder Paul Gilmour, who started the business in his bedroom 10 years ago, said sales were up 11% year on year. He will employ a fourth member of staff at the new shop. John Hays, managing director of
Hays Travel, said expansion plans were on track despite earlier fears that Brexit may cause the company to be more “cautious” in future. Hays has just signed shop leases
for three branches, in Halifax, Torquay and Plymstock, and is
poised to sign four more. › Are you opening a new shop or have plans to expand? Email
amie.keeley@
travelweekly.co.uk
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