UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
pole travel in greater manchester
Jill Waite, owner Most interesting booking? The first time I booked a round-the-world trip, it was really exciting. And once I had some people who wanted to do a whiskey tour in the US, so I had to find out about all the itineraries and book quite random places. The guy was also scared of flying, so we booked them on Premium Economy with Virgin Atlantic to make it easier. Favourite travel memory? I went to Uganda with Jasmin and it was amazing. I love monkeys and I wanted to see the gorillas.
Staff at the agency tell Andrew McQuarrie about the shop’s 40th anniversary celebrations and reveal their elaborate approach to Lapland bookings
When asked how the agency has enjoyed success for 40 years, Pole Travel owner Jill Waite says it is down to the personal touch. The Failsworth shop in
Greater Manchester was set up by Waite’s mother, Jean Ivell, in 1984 and these days it counts Ivell’s granddaughter Jasmin McLellan among its staff. McLellan will mark a decade with the family business next year, having joined after finishing school. “I hope I get an anniversary present,” she says, laughing. Her mother chuckles too. Waite and McLellan work alongside Gemma Milne,
part-time staff member Jo Potts and student Joe Hanson. Joe is employed part-time while he completes his travel and tourism course at Hopwood Hall College. I join the agents – and their pet dogs – on a Friday morning in July to find out what makes the business tick.
Strong connections
Jasmin McLellan, travel agent Stand-out memory in travel? When I was 21, I won a place on a 16-night trip hosted by the Hawaii tourism board. It was amazing. What would you do if you weren’t an agent? I’d love to be a pop star. I like to belt out Céline Dion or Queen. I think I’m good but everyone else says I’m not. Apart from that, I really wouldn’t want to do anything other than be a travel agent. It’s a happy industry and you’re making people happy by booking their holiday. It’s not like working in HMRC or giving out parking tickets.
On entering the shop, one of the first things I notice is a photo display showcasing the characters who have contributed to the agency’s story over the past 40 years. Smiling faces beam out from industry functions, fancy
dress nights and celebrity encounters, with musician- turned-actor Martin Kemp appearing more than once. It’s clear that this is an office where a sense of humour has never been in short supply and the staff have built close relationships with the local community as well as industry contacts. To mark its 40th anniversary in May, the agency welcomed about 60 visitors for an afternoon of cake and champagne – and long-standing customers popped by with flowers and bottles of wine. The strength of these connections is likely to come from the fact that the majority of clients book their trips in person. “I would say about 70% of our customers come into the shop,” says McLellan. “We’ve got a lot of repeats who come in and we get a lot of people who say we have been recommended to them.” Her mother elaborates on the personal touch that the agents provide, noting it includes focusing on the “best deal” for each customer. “I don’t incentivise the staff to buy through anyone in particular,” says Waite.
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Once a booking is made, the agency sends the travel confirmations to the customer by post along with a cover letter. “It might be old-fashioned, but people like it,” Waite says, going on to explain that clients communicate their gratitude in different ways. “We have one customer who brings us a fruit loaf two or three times a year,” she says.
Feel-good factor
Since the pandemic, the shop has closed on Wednesdays as well as Sundays in a move that has been beneficial for the agents’ work-life balance. “I feel it’s a better lifestyle,” says Waite. In an extension of this approach, the shop doesn’t open until the mid-morning to make sure the staff have time to take care of their personal priorities. “Jasmin and I have two dogs each, so we walk them and then come here to open at 10am and the dogs run around in the garden behind the shop,” says Waite. “Covid taught us to live our lives more and it works really well,” she adds. Another post-pandemic development is that higher-value bookings have become more frequent. “Since Covid, people are willing to spend more on special trips. They think, ‘screw it, we’ll go’,” says Waite. Bali was “really popular” last year, she adds, with other strong sellers including the Maldives, multi-centre Thailand trips and Lapland. For the latter, the agency has a special approach to delivering the travel documents. “Mum dresses up as an elf,” says McLellan. “People know we do it and it’s become a selling point.” At this moment, I’m shown video evidence of the
dress-up acts and witness the delight they bring to families – although some of the younger children seem more than a touch alarmed by the sight of Santa’s helper at the door. The feel-good factor prompted by the agency’s work also translates to phone calls to clients. “People brighten up when they realise it’s us on the phone saying their tickets are in,” says Waite. “In the 90s, everybody warned about the internet [impacting our business], but we’re still going strong.”
travelweekly.co.uk
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