The Burnley-headquartered business, which currently has 33 shops in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, held a week events over 22-27 July to mark founder and tea merchant Abraham Altham’s first trip from Burnley to Blackpool in 1874.
This included taking 51 customers on a recreation of that original coach trip , part of a year-long programme of events being held by Althams to mark the anniversary.
Marie Leach, Althams’ head of sales and business development, told TTG the agency was keen to recreate their founder’s original trip on the actual date of the anniversary (23 July), which included festivities to mark the occasion at Burnley’s bus station.
"Everybody in our 33 branches and at head office also dressed up in Victorian attire, and we filled the windows with historical travel adverts for the week," Leach explained.
"It was fantastic with the customers coming in and celebrating the anniversary with us. They learned about the history of Althams and they also booked some holidays so it was very productive as well.”
During the week of celebrations, Althams encouraged bookings by holding a daily draw to give clients chances to win £150 holiday spending money, as well as offering discounts of up to £150 on holidays booked during the week.
The agency, which spent nearly 100 years combining travel with selling groceries, turned its full focus to travel at the end of the 1960s when the advent of supermarkets made the grocery business more challenging. “We are very proud of where we have come from and where we are today,” Leach told TTG.
Althams Travel has recently opened new branches in the Yorkshire towns of Harrogate and Wetherby, and Leach added managing director Sandra McAllister was looking to expand the Althams network to around 40 stores.
"We have no plans to expand into other regions and any new shop would have to be within around 10 miles of one of our existing branches,” explained Leach. “We want to keep our family values where everybody knows everybody – that’s really important to us.”
"We’re in no rush to open new branches – it has to be the right town. We’re looking for market or spa towns with a strong community where an independent travel agency would be appreciated."
Other 150th anniversary celebrations included a summer ball in June, while next month staff will take part in a charity cycling event to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK in memory of Althams Travel director Jackie Griffin, who died from the disease last year.
Leach added the business was “doing really well” in 2024 after recording the most profitable year in its history last year. “We’ve been up month-on-month for both passengers and revenue this year – the team has worked really hard and done incredibly well,” she said.
"It’s been a really strong year so far and we’re so pleased to see what we have achieved."
