20.08.15 News


Homeworker’s move to high street pays off


Pippa Jacks


A CHESHIRE homeworker who opened his first high street premises last month has predicted the


move will see the agency double its turnover by the end of the year. Jai Porter, owner of Freedom member TravelLab, had worked from home for eight years, building up a team of three other homeworkers. When the business began to outgrow his home office, he found it would be almost as costly to rent a serviced office space as it would a high street retail unit. He opened the store in the market


town of Frodsham in early July, with the help of a former Thomson manager from a nearby town, and is already looking to appoint a third member of staff. “Previously we were selling 80%


Maldives, with average booking value as high as £3,200pp, but such a big focus on one destination left us rather exposed,” said Porter. “We’ve already seen the profile of


NEW DEALS


Norwegian gets ready for ski season with charter flights


LOW-COST AIRLINE Norwegian has signed new agreements with three tour operators to provide flights to winter ski destinations. The deals with Neilson, Balkan


Holidays and Skiworld are for charter flights to France, Spain and Bulgaria during the winter season. The fast-growing airline will also


operate charter flights on behalf of Tui and Thomas Cook in the Nordic region.


Together the UK and Nordic deals


are valued at £15 million. Thomas Ramdahl, chief


commercial officer at Norwegian, said: “We’re very pleased to continue flying charter passengers by collaborating with new partners. “We are also looking forward


to welcoming even more passengers to experience our free in-flight Wi-Fi onboard our brand new aircraft.”


year to find just the right premises,” he warned. “The reaction from local people


has been very encouraging; people are saying ‘thank goodness we don’t have to go into Chester any more’, and ‘thank goodness there’s an independent agent in town’,” he explained. His dog, Charlie, has also been a


big hit with visitors to the store, while putting a water-bowl outside the store for passing dogs has brought customers in. He noted that tour operators had


been particularly supportive of the new venture, with Gold Medal hoping to provide vinyl signage for the window and Kuoni aiming to install a brochure wall. Future plans for TravelLab include


TravelLab founder Jai Porter with Jen Williams, and Charlie (inset)


our business change since opening the shop, with enquiries for everything from Italy and Florida to cruise and Antarctica.” With a Thomas Cook store the only


other agency in the town, he estimates his new shop has the potential for around £100,000 of sales per month, and says the store has been “a zoo” on market days and Saturdays.


But while Porter is convinced


there is good business to be had on the high street, he stressed the importance of location. “There is a big part of the market


who will consider [a high street agent] if they walk by and see you. But you have to choose wisely. There aren’t many towns like Frodsham, where footfall is so good, and I looked for over a


ADD-ONS


Ryanair sets sights on hotels and football


THE BOSS of Ryanair says he wants to disrupt the European travel industry by becoming a retailer of hotel rooms and football tickets as well as flights. The move is part of a


change to the ryanair.com site, which will also see it include rival airlines’ prices. “We want to become


the Amazon of travel in Europe, with a whole load of


holding a cruise week, advertising in local press, and tying up with other local businesses such as a delicatessen and a salon that makes homemade beauty gifts. “We’ve had our honeymoon period,


and now we need to really switch on the marketing,” Porter insisted. He also admitted the transition


from working alone at home to being in the “fishbowl” environment of a busy store had not been easy. “I’ve had to learn how to re-immerse


myself into normal society,” he joked. “It’s hard to get any work done when people are coming in every half hour, but I’m really enjoying the social side.”


additional services: price comparison, cut-rate hotels, discounted football tickets, concert tickets,” chief executive Michael O’Leary told news agency Reuters. “We want to be the disruptor that


goes out and disrupts the original disruptors,” he added. Ryanair is concerned about sites such as Skyscanner and tech behemoth Google. In the past it has tangled with so-called screenscrapers in court. “We are wary not to let Google become the avenue by which we sell 50-80% of our tickets,” O’Leary said.


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