FRONTLINE
Q. How has 2022 been? I’ve done about £280,000 in sales this year so far. I had to find all the leads – it’s not like a shop with people coming in. I’d like to double that in 2023. I love working from home – in a shop, you could be on hold for two hours, but here I can have the phone on loudspeaker and do other things. No one dictates what I sell – I sell what suits my clients.
Q. What sort of holidays do you sell? I book anything from a theatre break to a round-the- world cruise. That theatre booking could lead to cruise sales. My clients are everywhere – my top one is in Manchester and books four times a year with me, spending about £50,000 annually. As well as social media and my Google business page, I get people via recommendations. I took part in a wedding fair at the Old Vicarage in the New Forest. They’d never had an agent and I’m now their recommended honeymoon supplier.
DENISE O’CONNOR
The Brilliant Travel agent from Poole tells Samantha Mayling how she’s thriving since becoming a homeworker
Q. How did your career in travel develop? I started 33 years ago on the YTS [Youth Training Scheme] with Bath Travel, then AT Mays, then I was at Thomas Cook for 22 years. I left before they went bust and went to Hays Travel. I wanted a career change and opted for homeworking. I saw an ad in Travel Weekly for Brilliant Travel – they do the admin, you build your business. This is my first year of proper trading and I’m one of the top-10 homeworkers. I was invited to the Barrhead Travel [Brilliant’s parent company] annual conference at Trump Turnberry hotel in November. It was lovely to meet everyone. I felt very much valued.
Q. How did the pandemic affect you? I joined Brilliant in November 2019 and started in January 2020 after I did my training. Then the pandemic hit. I’d taken a few bookings as I had started to market on Facebook and Instagram. I moved bookings to 2021, but some clients had to move again. I flew to Greece when travellers needed lots of Covid tests. It was expensive, but showed it could be done. I also took seacations from Southampton and promoted those.
travelweekly.co.uk
Q. Any memorable bookings? A Sainsbury’s driver found a cheap Bali holiday, and I said I could price-match. I got more for less money than he was looking at online. He trusts me now, and from that booking, I’ve booked more colleagues at Sainsbury’s. When I was at Thomas Cook, one guy came in, looking very shabby. He booked a £42,000 round-the-world cruise. From that day, I’ve never prejudged anyone.
Q. How are future sales looking? I’m seeing more groups. I have one wedding booked for 45 people in Cyprus next year, plus hen parties and golf groups. The cost of living has not hit people yet. People are booking well in advance and choosing more long- haul. They’re not looking for quick, cheap getaways; they’re saving up for bucket-list holidays.
Q. Have you travelled much lately? I went on fams to Mexico in January, Cyprus in April, a Fred Olsen cruise in October, and my own holiday to Mexico. I’ve cruised with Virgin Voyages and on Celebrity Beyond. When I come back, I do sell holidays to these destinations – you can promote them better afterwards. While I’m away, I blog and post my own photos.
Q. Do you have any future travel plans? I am really looking forward to the Maldives. I won five nights with If Only because of my sales, and I added on five nights. If Only set up a group for their top-10 homeworkers and we’d have Zoom coffee mornings and we had lunch at The Ivy in London. They see homeworkers as important and more companies are doing similar things. Suppliers are extending their work hours – we could get enquiries at 7pm or later, so more are working later. I can’t believe I’ve done 33 years – I survived the ash cloud, 9/11, the pandemic and travel failures. Travel is in my blood. There’s always something to learn; it’s not well paid, but you visit lovely places.
HOW DID SAINSBURY’S HELP YOU IN THE PANDEMIC?
I got a job at Sainsbury’s so that I would have a wage, as I didn’t expect to earn too much from travel initially when I joined Brilliant.
I was fulfilling online orders and was classed as a
key worker, so I worked throughout the pandemic.
I work from 3am to 7am and do 20,000 steps a shift. For Christmas week,
I start at 2am so I have to be up at 1am.
I used to work 28 hours a
week at Sainsbury’s but that’s now down to 16 as I am busier with Brilliant Travel.
It was five-and-a-half hours per morning, but now it is just four hours on Tuesdays to Fridays.
I start my travel work about 9am and go until about 6pm, then sort dinner, then I am in bed by 7.30pm.
I am exhausted by the
weekend and have a lie-in. I don’t do much work at
weekends; I just promote some offers or respond to a query. Sainsbury’s has been very
flexible, as I have had a lot of trips away this year, and they allowed me to take the time
off as they know my business is important to me.
Denise at Sainsbury’s with colleagues Samantha Tricksey and Phil Bridgewater
15 DECEMBER 2022 29
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