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TTG talks Not Just Travel franchisee Moses McLaughlin and Your Travel Group’s Rich Hurn who have come into travel from different sectors and thrived in their roles – plus their recruiters tell us why travel firms should not be afraid to cast their net more widely for new hires
As a staff sergeant with the Royal Engineers, Moses McLaughlin served in conflict zones around the world. Sailing off to the Falklands, he had no idea that the next time he stepped onboard a ship, he would do so as a travel agent, visiting a cruise ship, 40 years later.
After 22 years’ service, he embarked on a new career in sales and relationship management with the payments industry first at Barclaycard, then with number of financial institutions.
“I worked as a global relationship manager at Global Payments for 10 years, where I managed the largest accounts including the UK Post Office,” he explains.
“I was working full-on, even when the pandemic hit. There was no time to unwind and be with my family, so when I was offered a voluntary redundancy package, it was a no-brainer.”
However, he admits, there was “only so much Netflix and gardening I could stand” so he focused on his interests of travel and music and investigated a number of travel franchises.
Moses opted for The Travel Franchise – it does not require recruits to have previous travel experience. He already had a business plan up his sleeve: “A number of music promoters wanted to outsource their travel requirements to me (flights and accommodation) so they could focus on the event itself.”
One of the first big events he’s tackled is a music-themed cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line.
“We wanted to offer something a bit different,” he says. “A music cruise for those aged 40-plus, in the soul and reggae arena, attracting a diverse clientele and a substantial number of first-timers.”
“My first cruise was MSC Virtuosa last year,” he says. “That’s where the idea formed, and then we took a Marella 90s versus 00s cruise this year to experience a music-themed event.”
He’s already booked 200 passengers, and hopes to get another 200 before the cruise departs next September 2023.
Thanks to his military and business careers, organisation skills come naturally to Moses. “You’ve got to make a plan,” he says. But he’s been most thankful for his communications skills,
“I’ve dealt with soldiers, and I’ve dealt with B2B,” he says. “But B2C is a different kettle of fish. Once something goes wrong, you might never get that customer back,” he says.
With three more on-land music events planned for 2023 and one already lined up for 2024, his partner Nicola ready to step into the business, and a forecast for £1 million in revenue by the year end, you could say Moses has taken to travel like a duck to water.
“It is something completely different,” he says. “The beauty is I’m working for myself and that brings a real sense of satisfaction. I can make a success of it or I can let it go down the tube, but that’s not my mentality.”
Paul Harrison, co-founder of The Travel Franchise and Not Just Travel, says: “Moses’ huge booking just shows that previous experience isn’t necessary for success. As long as you have good connections and people know, like and trust you, you can build an awesome travel business.
“Our travel consultants join us from hundreds of different professions, each of them bringing with them transferable skills that complement their new careers in travel. People have worked in finance, admin, public services, the military, or as full-time mums. Yet, each one of them have useful entrepreneurial skills, and our world-class training fills in any missing pieces.
“Our proven model shows that you don’t necessarily need experience in travel to communicate passionately about your love of travel and be eager to provide the best trips for people. As long as you have a strong work ethic and lots of strong relationships, we can show you everything else.”
Rich Hurn, business travel expert, Your Travel Group shares his story with TTG:
Rich pivoted from working in sales and account management in the area of assisted listening technology to travel last November.
“I was working for a well-established family-run business but when I had been there seven years I felt I’d gone as far as I could with the company,” he explains. “I wanted more money and I wanted progression.”
He knew Sam Cassem, one of the co-founders of Your Travel, socially and a conversation in the pub led to an interview and a formal job offer.
“To start with, I did find it difficult and stressful,” admits Hurn. “I left a job where I knew the systems and the codes inside out and everything was second nature. I struggled going from that to a new job, where I didn’t know anything.”
It was also a risk, leaving a secure job to embark on a new career in an industry still in upheaval due to Covid.
“When I joined, we didn’t know whether clients would start traveling again. But it’s testament to the business that their former clients came straight back as soon as they could.”
In those early days, Hurn found it helpful to be employed by a business that favoured office working. “After so long working from home, I was ready to get back in an office, enjoy the banter and learn from my new colleagues,” he says. “When it was tough in those early days, I knew I had to take the time to learn the systems, keep pushing and it would get better. Life is easier when you’re working with a great team”
He’s been able to use the customer service and account management skills he’d built in his former role to good effect in travel: “I love talking to clients,” he says. “I love cooking so I talk to clients about that… but it’s also about knowing when is not the right time to chat, and when you just need to get on with the job in hand.”
There was job satisfaction in hearing loops because the technology genuinely makes a difference in people’s lives, he says, but job satisfaction comes in different ways from travel: “We’re a high-end corporate travel agency and we need to ensure everything is done perfectly,” he says. “It’s a good feeling when you have top executives from big companies thanking you for your service.”
In May this year, he helped Your Travel achieve one of its biggest ever sales transactions, when cold calling from LinkedIn helped land a corporate booking for an international company involving international flights from Canada to Ibiza. “That was a crazy booking, we had to split the group across various flights due to availability,” he says.
Successes like that have helped convince Hurn he’s made the right decision: “I know I have opportunities to progress into management and the directors will help me get there.”
And he would urge anyone else looking to switch into the travel industry to go for it. ”It’s a great industry to work in, if you have the ability and the drive to learn something new,” he says.
John Stephenson, managing director, Your Travel Group, adds:
"We were tentative about recruiting someone with no travel experience, due to being a small business we weren’t sure that we could handle training someone from scratch, however since his initial interview Rich has gone from strength to strength with the upmost enthusiasm to learn his new role.
"He’s a leading example of what can be achieved when you put your mind to something and I’m incredibly proud of his progress, he’s set to achieve big things at Your Travel Corporate.
"After seeing this progress we have made a move to recruit outside of the industry which brings new insights and a different point of view into our team and offers someone else the opportunity to join our great team."
