CONFERENCE
Brilliant Travel eyes growth and a second annual forum
B
arrhead trading division Brilliant Travel is targeting a further 12 members next year and planning
two standalone conferences and more regional meetings. Up to now, members have joined
the main Barrhead Travel group’s annual conference and held their own event in spring in Glasgow. The news was announced as
Barrhead Travel revealed it plans to host its conference overseas next year for the first time, with the location yet to be decided. Brilliant Travel’s conferences
will be in spring and autumn next year and will be complemented by an increased number of regional meetings for both its managed service travel partners (MSTPs) and its homeworking division. Director Linda Pyle said members
I’d like to bring on another 12 members next year – we want viable businesses which have longevity
needed their own events. “What you deliver to Barrhead Travel managers is different to what you want to deliver to business owners in Brilliant Travel,” she said. The group has taken on three new
members this year – Tyne Travel, Love2Travel and
Simplycruises.com – and has a further four due to open before the end of this year. It currently has 42 MSTPs which
trade under their own business name, and 38 Brilliant Travel homeworkers. A recruitment campaign is currently
Barrhead plans flagship store
Barrhead Travel plans to open a new flagship store in Glasgow in January and close its existing flagship store in Oswald Street at a date yet to be confirmed. The location of the new store remains under wraps but president
Jacqueline Dobson said it was in a street with “one of the highest levels of footfall” in the city centre. The move follows the group’s £1 million relocation of its head office from the Oswald Street premises to a category B listed building in St Vincent Place, Glasgow. Barrhead Travel now has 51 store locations across Scotland, England and
Northern Ireland, and has opened three new branches in the past 12 months. Dobson pledged to continue
investing in bricks and mortar agencies as the company’s “primary focus” and said the company had a “bold vision” for growth, including more branches in England but no set target. She said: “We will focus on organic
growth for the next six months and then restart our expansion plans at the back end of 2023.”
12 24 NOVEMBER 2022
Jacqueline Dobson
running to attract more homeworkers. Prior to Covid, Brilliant Travel
was growing at a rate of around eight new members a year, but it now hopes to increase that. Pyle, who said the group
was being approached by more entrepreneurs interested in setting up in travel post-Covid, said: “Ideally I’d like to bring on another 12 members next year but it’s about quality over quantity. We want people with viable businesses which have longevity.” She added: “We will also grow
naturally; we have a couple of members looking at opening shops.” The group also hopes to
encourage more agents to put together holidays under the group’s Atol. “Prior to Covid, dynamic packaging was a big percentage of our business,” she said, adding: “Agents can earn 23% commission.”
Agency hailed as a ‘top-100’ place to work
Barrhead Travel has been named one of the top-100 large companies to work for in the UK – the only leisure travel agency to make the list. It is the first time the firm has featured in the national Best Companies
round-up, which measures workplace engagement. Barrhead was ranked at number 96, based on a survey that took
place between July 1 and September 30 of private and not-for-profit organisations employing 200 to 1,999 people. The accolade credited the company with having an open-door policy
that encourages open dialogue with the senior management team. The business has more than 1,000 staff across its 86 stores, offices and
call centres. President Jacqueline Dobson said: “Every business wants this
accolade. We have been striving to get it for some time.” Dobson said the company had worked hard over the past four years to
improve employee engagement and change the company’s culture, with more focus on staff wellbeing. Barrhead now has five mental health first-aiders, while staff training has been significantly increased over the past 24 months.
Conference delegates at Trump Turnberry hotel
Barrhead Travel Conference 2022: Scottish-based agency Linda Pyle
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURES: Malcolm Cochrane Photography
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 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
