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Basking in the glory of their TTG Travel Award wins, Charlotte Cullinan speaks to this year’s Business Travel Agency, Call Centre and High Street Store of the year.
“This has absolutely been our year,” Click Travel’s managing director Jill Palmer explains. “We’ve had a record-breaking sales performance, secured some significant customers, and won numerous awards.” The latest addition to the company’s trophy cabinet is the Business Travel Agency of the Year award, and Palmer says: “It is lovely to be recognised with such a prestigious industry award, as TTG is a hugely well-regarded brand.”
To celebrate the team enjoyed a drinks party and have included details in their tenders.”
The judges admired the TMC’s staff development work and training programme, and Palmer is adamant that “employee contentment is key to our success”.
All staff are given one-to-one access to external trainers who focus on getting the best out of work and life. The reservations team are supported by two dedicated trainers, and all new managers undertake leadership training. There is also an emphasis on promoting from within, and an anonymous company-wide survey helps address any concerns.
Volunteering is a popular, with the team hoping to raise £1,000 for Birmingham Children's Hospital this year, and everyone encouraged to donate 1% of their working time to the community. Staff also enjoy an extra day’s holiday on their birthday, and a month’s paid leave to celebrate 10 years’ service.
Click Travel donate Easter Eggs and toys to Birmingham Children’s Hospital
This investment in its people helped Click earn its place on the list of the Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For in 2014 and 2015, with Palmer aiming for a hat-trick in 2016. “A key value of ours is that we want to brighten our customers’ day, and it’s hard to do that if you’re not happy at work yourself. So we want to make our employees’ lives easier and fun.”
The firm employees 120 staff, with the majority based at its Birmingham office and others working from home. Several have been with Click since it was founded in 2004 by brothers James and Simon McLean, who formerly ran a hotel booking agency.
Today it caters for clients including Red Bull, Whitbread and TalkTalk, alongside charities including RNIB.
Click has a strong focus on technology, with a team of in-house software engineers rapidly developing ideas in response to customer demands and feedback.
In 2014 the TMC created a popular blog and launched free travel management resources, which dramatically boosted its contacts list.
Its ambitious approach is backed up by strong finances, with revenue increasing from £67 million in March 2014 to £92 million in March 2015, with the aim of hitting £250 million within three years.
As the proud winner of the Call Centre Agency of the Year award, Blue Bay Travel founder Stuart Wilson is a firm believer in doing things differently. He happily describes his firm as having an “offbeat personality”, which comes across in everything from the website’s chatty tone, to consultants being called “personal travel gurus”. “Being efficient doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice suave and style. We love to deliver holidaymakers to their beloved destinations with a little smile on the side.”
Wilson founded the agency with his wife Angela in 2003, both coming from retail and customer service backgrounds outside of travel. From its offices in Stoke-on-Trent Blue Bay is a member of the Midcounties Co-operative and the team of 52 work across three specialist brands under the Blue Bay umbrella – Caribbean Warehouse, Tropical Warehouse, and Cruise Warehouse.
The judges praised Blue Bay for its “commitment to innovation”, which is evident in its marketing, having launched several new campaigns in 2014. Customers were offered the Deal of the Week email, which invited them to submit quote requests via the email, while a separate new monthly newsletter dramatically boosted blog views. It also launched a programme of destination videos presented by staff. “To stand out from the crowd we need to reinvent each marketing concept from the ground up.”
Blue Bay is very active on social media, and Wilson shared a “tactical selfie” from the TTG Travel Awards with Jason Manford, and says the win has helped “spark some quality conversations” online.
He is proud of a 98% satisfaction rating with independent review system Feefo, and says repeat bookings rose from 47% in 2014 to 58% in 2015.
“We ensure every team member receives the feedback relevant to their bookings, so they can share the love too. Happy advisors make happy holidays.”
Wilson is adamant about the value of staff development, and last year launched a staff forum and an NVQ scheme, which six of the team are currently completing. This year saw the introduction of a new training programme and an employee of the month reward scheme. The team also support charities through volunteering and fundraising initiatives.
Blue Bay has a staff retention figure of 92%, and Wilson says: “To keep our ambitions ahead of the crowd it’s important to me that every member of the team has access to all the knowledge and resources they need to make a real difference to the company. This is how we manage to devise, innovate, and improve our strategies from every angle.”
After winning the TTG Travel Award for High Street Store of the Year, Thorne Travel owner Shona Thorne started planning a party to reward her “loyal and supportive” customers. “They are 100% key to our success, so we want to thank them over champagne and canapes,” she says.
Former Tui sales manager Thorne has been heavily involved with her local community since setting up the agency in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, in 2009. “We opened our doors at the top of the recession, and everyone thought I was mad.
But I employed local people and asked locals for their support.”
The Hays Independence Group Member’s army of loyal followers helped produce a YouTube video that shot the agency to international fame in October 2014. TTG Travel Awards host Jason Manford called it “legendary”, and the judges praised the agency for its “creative flair and entrepreneurial spirit”.
At 2.55 minutes long the video shows the Thorne Travel team dishing out holiday dreams to local people. “We’re an amazing village and we wanted to show it off. The video was never meant to be serious, it was just for fun. We uploaded it and it went haywire!”
Within nine days it attracted 1.5 million views, and generated coverage in every UK newspaper, as well as in media around the world. Sales shot up by 110% in the eight weeks following its launch, attracting new clients as far away as Australia. Thorne recruited six more agents to help deal with demand but business is still booming, and she is planning to advertise for another four. “It’s been amazing, and we often have people visit the village just to come and see us.”
She says the “exceptionally high” levels of customer service the team provide is key to the agency’s success. All clients are offered tea, coffee or prosecco in store, and are called when they return from holiday. They receive birthday, wedding and Christmas cards, and are invited to regular customer focus groups and evenings with suppliers.
Thorne highly regards her team of 15 and offers a thorough year-round programme of formal and informal training. She said the award has provided an additional boost: “It’s been great for staff morale, as we are all on an absolute high and have permanent smiles, and have received so many flowers and chocolates. In November we’re going out for a champagne dinner to celebrate.”
