Inside Travel reveals growth plans Juliet Dennis


The co-founders of Inside Travel Group have outlined plans to treble the size of the business in the next five years after revealing the tour operation was “48 hours from folding” in 2022. Speaking at the annual general


meeting of Aito, The Specialist Travel Association, Simon King and Alastair Donnelly said a rebrand and new destinations were on the cards following a £20 million investment in the tour operator business last year. The expansion plans are in stark


contrast to the situation the company found itself in three years ago. “We were 48 hours from folding,”


recalled King, who said private equity fund Blandford Capital came to the firm’s rescue in 2022 and “essentially bought the business for £1”. King added: “They threw us a


10% incentive but we [the founders] had to buy back in to acquire more of a stake. When they bought us, the value of our company was essentially zero. We had £18,000 in the bank to cover four international branches.” He said the pair were “very, very


grateful” for Blandford Capital’s support, expertise and belief in the business over the next two years. Donnelly said Inside Travel


Group had now emerged from two to three years of mergers and acquisitions, and of achieving B Corp


Homeworking firm seeks agents with mentoring skills


Samantha Mayling


Homeworking business Your Endless Travel is looking to expand by taking on experienced homeworking agents, who could in turn help to mentor new-to-travel recruits. Ross Griffiths and Luke Skinner,


co-owners of the Hereford-based agency, are seeking agents with five- plus years’ experience in travel sales. Agents would preferably have


skills in selling mid and long-haul destinations and multi-centre tailor-made itineraries – as well as experience of packaging their own products and ideally at least two


6 20 MARCH 2025


years of leadership or management experience. They would be tasked with mentoring agents who join a “new-to-travel” pathway, which will feature a training academy set to launch this summer. Skinner said: “To support our


continued growth, we are looking for a number of experienced agents to join our freelance team [of three]. “This next intake of experienced


agents will have the opportunity to take on the mentorship of one of our new-to-travel recruits and they will be rewarded financially for supporting them.” He noted the scheme had always been part of the agency’s longer-term


plan, but added: “We are getting a lot of enquiries from potential agents currently not working in the travel industry and wanting to get involved. “We know there are existing


opportunities for them in the industry, but we feel there is a niche for a company offering tailored support, in-depth training on product and systems, and mentoring from experienced agents.” The Protected Trust Services


member will also have a full-time training manager running its training academy and training the team. Initially, each experienced agent


will mentor one new-to-travel homeworker at a time, for 12 months.


Simon King (left) and Alastair Donnelly


Donnelly said he felt optimistic


about the future of the firm, which now employs 270 staff. “Our growth plan will see us


treble the size of our business in the next four to five years,” he said. “There will be new destinations


under the InsideAsia brand and a rebrand in the summer.” New destinations in Asia are likely


certification. It is now part-owned by private equity house Piper and the Japanese government. Piper, a B Corp and specialist investor in consumer brands, and Cool Japan Fund, Japan’s sovereign wealth fund focused on promoting Japanese culture globally, have partnered with the operator to invest in the group.


to be announced later this year. Donnelly added: “It’s nice to be


back on the journey – to see our team growing and the business having a lot of positive impact.” He also credited Covid-19 with


improving the business because it provided time to “take stock” and carry out a “deep strategy”.


From left: Your Endless Travel’s Ross Griffiths,


Suzy O’Sullivan,


Katie Hollinshead and Luke Skinner


“This is something we feel will


help our offering stand out,” Skinner continued, adding that the agency is “highly selective” about the homeworkers it takes on. “We’d rather grow more slowly


with the right agents, than grow fast for the sake of it,” he said. “Our marketing efforts have been going really well and we’re generating lots of high-value enquiries for exciting long-haul destinations, so we have plenty for new agents to work on.” Agents can be based across the


UK or overseas. Your Endless Travel already has one homeworker living and working in Colombia, who specialises in Latin America.


travelweekly.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68