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Southall Travel’s Kuljinder Bahia (right) on stage at
the Barclays Travel Forum with event moderator Jeremy Skidmore
Southall trumps Brexit as revenue rockets by 20%
Buoyant operator unveils plans for student and sports travel divisions. Lee Hayhurst reports from the Barclays Travel Forum
Southall Travel overcame a 20% hike in costs caused by Brexit to post a record rise in revenues last year after increasing staff bonuses.
Chief executive Kuljinder Bahia
told last week’s Barclays Travel Forum he personally insisted on no redundancies or cuts in salaries following last June’s referendum. In the aftermath of last June’s
EU referendum, Southall Travel was hit by a 20% slump in the value of the pound against the Indian rupee, the currency in
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travelweekly.co.uk 18 May 2017
which much of its wage bill is paid. “I have never cut salaries
or bonuses; people have their mortgages to pay. It’s not the right way,” Bahia said. Bahia ordered management
to increase bonuses but insisted employees were made aware the firm had a problem and they needed to work harder. “Not in the number of hours
they worked, but in commitment,” added Bahia. “Last year we saw our biggest-ever growth and I did not have to hire anyone extra.”
Southall Travel’s turnover
is said to have “grown by £100 million to £600 million” for the year to March 31, 2017. Official annual results have yet to be published but this would be the biggest annual rise in its 20-year history, wiping out the currency hit. In 2015-16 the firm made a £21 million pre-tax profit on a turnover of £472 million. Bahia also revealed Southall
Travel is poised to launch student travel and sports travel divisions, and to grow its short-haul range. He admitted he does not have a
name for the student division yet as he looks for website domain names, although he said it will be
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