Working for a big global brand or a smaller family-run business - it’s a dilemma that will be familiar to many in the travel industry. It’s the predicament that Lizzie Heeley faced when she graduated from Exeter University in 2011, when she had to choose between an internship with Hilton Hotels and an opportunity at The Turquoise Holiday Company to develop its honeymoon gift list service.

“It was real head versus heart stuff,” she recalls. “I knew my future was in the travel industry after I spent my gap year in East Africa. Hilton is a big brand, but I chose Turquoise because a smaller company suited my personality - I wanted a job where I could grow in confidence, rather than being swallowed up in a big crowd.”

It was a decision that has paid off. Within six months she was carrying out marketing activity for the firm, and in September last year, two years after she started at Turquoise, she helped open the Beaconsfield-based company’s first high street store, in Clapham, south London.

Branching out

Turquoise Holidays was founded in 2002 by Brian Barton, with James and Sue Bell, as a luxury tailor-made operator with a niche in honeymoons. Now it is branching into the family market and long-haul itineraries, and Heeley says it is a huge boost that the fledgling shop is hitting targets at a time when many are writing off the high street.

“Clapham’s Northcote Road has a very villagey feel. It’s light and bright, and there’s no pricing in the windows, just messages and images to inspire people, and a big map inside. Last month I put the Maldives in the window, this month it’s New Zealand. It’s important that people don’t walk past and see a stagnant shop.”

Creative content

To launch Turquoise’s new family brochure, the company hosted an in-store family day, with turquoise tigers, face painting, paper plane making competitions, branded balloons and smoothies. Any bookings earned the client a voucher for children’s swimwear brand Sunuva.

“But the family day wasn’t about selling holidays,” Heeley admits. “Our core message is our passion for travel and our expertise. We wanted to draw in the honeymooners we booked 10 years ago, who now have families, and show them that we can arrange baby seats, cots and nannies when they travel. This was a chance for them to get to know us as a team.”

While the personal touch is important for Turquoise, 80% of its business comes via the web and phone calls, so Heeley invests a great deal of her time in online and mobile marketing.

“Google rankings are vital to us, and the key to improving our ranking is unique creative content"

We write all our website and brochure content in-house. We need it to sound like the most exciting holiday our clients could take.”

Carrying such responsibility at a young age - she is managing the development of Turquoise’s new website, and the most senior non-sales person in the Clapham store - she has found solidarity with other 30 Under 30 members in similar positions: “I’m often the youngest at functions so it’s nice to meet up with the younger generation entering travel, who like me, are inspired by travel and driven to succeed.

“I’ll never know what route I would have gone down with Hilton, but I don’t regret it,” she adds. “The opportunities here at Turquoise are fantastic – I have gone from an entry-level job to making important decisions that affect the business in just a couple of years. I’m consistently stepping outside my comfort zone, but it means I’m learning new things, and my bosses encourage me to learn from my mistakes.”

With the business having grown 30% year-on-year in 2013, there can’t be too many of them for Turquoise’s young star.