Classic Collection is one of the UK’s best-performing independent tour operators, built on agent-friendly values and top-notch service – and actually a far cry from the “dinosaur” some critics would have it dismissed as
author: April Hutchinson
auging the size of a workforce by how many purchases you have to make on the annual summer ice-cream run may seem like a vague kind of measure. But it
Independence day G
gives an insight into the dry humour Classic Collection is imbued with and its habit of underplaying its standing. The “ice cream run” figure comes from
Andrew Farr, the company’s public relations manager, who is tasked with shopping for all those treats every summer – also known for his talent as an Edith Piaf tribute act. “Andrew covers lots of our trade events and
agents love him,” says Classic Collection managing director Nick Munday, as he laughs along with the ice cream run estimation. “Yes, I’d say he’s about right there – but officially we’re around 125 people these days.” The size of the team comes as a surprise
when I visit Classic in the south-coast seaside town of Worthing. The team are tucked away in town centre offices, a building Munday bought as the global downturn took hold in 2009. The firm has certainly come a long way in the
16 years since Munday took over. After selling Panorama Holidays, which he owned with Justin Fleming, to MyTravel in 1998, Munday wasn’t even set on staying in travel but ended up taking on Classic as a “three-day-a-week hobby” in 2002. Originally founded in 1988, when Munday and his fellow shareholders bought it, the company had 12 staff and a turnover of around £5 million on 4,800 passengers a year. “Back then, I knew nothing about sales and
marketing. I thought ‘how the hell am I going to get all these agents to bother with us?’,” he says. “My wife – who thankfully does know something about marketing – said to me, ‘Get in your car and go and see them.’ So I did – I drove up and down the country going to see about 350 of them.”
Personal touch From those visits, Munday sketched out a list of basic things agents all seemed to tell him they wanted – and he still has the list above his desk. And he still abides by it. “Good agents don’t just want commission
and vouchers – they want a holistic, seamless service that makes them look good,” he quips. “They want a robust and reliable all-round experience with a personal touch.” And Munday still personally calls all agents
who make a booking over £10,000. “I tell them how grateful we are for their business.” It’s a philosophy that seems to be working, with Classic Collection winning the TTG Travel Award for Luxury Tour Operator in 2015. And while “we’ve been ridiculously successful
at selling luxury holidays” may sound like quite a bold statement, in Munday’s case a touch of arrogance seems justified. Turnover in 2015 was £63 million, up by
1.9% on 2014, off around 43,000 passengers with an increase in operating profit of 0.2% to £3.2 million. But as Munday points out: “Actually it’s pride,
not arrogance – pride that we have been able to build this team, the business and with the help of agents.” And how is all this done? By selling almost
100% through agents, working with 1,850 Abta-listed agencies.
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TTGLUXURY.COM SPRING 2016 BUSINESS OF TRAVEL
Photography: Nick Ford
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