NEWS


Globe Travel Awards 2020: Alistair Rowland of Midcounties Co-operative and Abta wins the Outstanding Achievement Award. He speaks to Ian Taylor


Alistair Rowland picks up the Outstanding Achievement Award from Lynette Dungey of


sponsor Avis Budget Group (second left), flanked by Travel Weekly’s Stuart Parish and Lucy Huxley


Rowland: I’m humbled and shocked A


OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD


listair Rowland greeted the announcement of his Travel Weekly Globe award for Outstanding


Achievement as “a bit of a shocker”. He said: “I’m humbled. It means


more than you know. I didn’t see it coming at all.” Rowland, chief retail officer


for specialist business at The Midcounties Co-operative, says he is “excited” by his work at Abta, where he took over as chairman in June last year. But he sees the award as recognition of the performance of Midcounties, which he joined in 2011, saying: “It ratifies the Co-op as a significant and trusted brand.” Wind back to 2011, he notes, and


“Midcounties was the one Co-op that didn’t sell” to Thomas Cook. Rowland was group distribution


director at The Co-operative Travel when Thomas Cook took over the


16 23 JANUARY 2020 (This award) ratifies


Co-op as a significant and trusted brand. It stands for the right things – value, trust, service


business as part of a joint venture. He immediately switched to Midcounties despite noting: “It was small. It had 30 shops.” The estate has since doubled and there are now about 200 travel advisors working from home. He went to work developing


Midcounties’ travel business while “watching the assets [of The Co-operative Travel] get stripped”. In eight years, “we’ve built the


revenue 1,000%”, he says, adding: “It has been lovely. To hold the brand and grow it has been great. This award is recognition of that story – of the Co-op Travel being a significant name on the high street, probably number-two now to Hays Travel.” Rowland argues: “The Co-op was


always a great travel brand. It stands for the right things – value, trust, service. The thing that is different about the Co-op is that you can take a longer view. You’re not looking absolutely at the current year. That creates different behaviour. It means you can treat your people better, which means less churn. Some would say it slows decision making, but the methodology is sound in today’s world. “When you look at Thomas Cook


and Tui, it is great one year, profit warning the next. You don’t get that at the Co-op. Our food business had like-for-like growth of 3.3% over Christmas, better than all other retailers.” Rowland adds: “If we were rubbish, we would have shut the shop chain by now.” His role at Midcounties is wide,


with responsibility beyond travel – including healthcare, childcare and funeral services. Rowland says: “The businesses


are all profitable, but there isn’t a huge amount of synergy. We have chief operating officers in all of


them. I do a bit of firefighting and a bit of planning, [but] travel is my core skill set – there is no business like it – and I operate from the travel headquarters in Walsall.” He adds: “The travel business is


having a record year. When we took over in 2011 it wasn’t profitable, but it has been profitable since. We’ve grown revenue and profit every year to total [annual] transaction value of £500 million. We try to [add] 20 travel advisors and five shops each year.” Rowland notes “a lot of synergies


between Abta and the Co-op”, noting: “Abta will be central to Brexit, to financial protection and to education. The association has been good at supporting consumers and the CAA, now it has to demonstrate its value to operators.”


Watch our Facebook Live interview with Alistair Rowland: bit.ly/2v27ETD


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PICTURE: Steve Dunlop


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