Brendan Clancy, who founded Aspen Travel in Urmston, Greater Manchester, in the early 1990s told TTG he is thinking about selling the business “to enjoy his retirement” – but not before ensuring the future of his team is in safe hands.

Aspen Travel, which is now based in its own three-storey building in Sale, includes a traditional retail agency on its ground floor, as well as an online travel agency and business travel operation.

Clancy said he was looking for prospective buyers who would be interested in acquiring Aspen Travel, but his main concern was ensuring the current eight members of staff can continue in their roles under a new owner.

"The staff are great and I would like them to carry on – I’m most concerned to make sure they are all taken care of,” he said. “We have an old-fashioned travel agency with good service, experience and knowledge.”

Clancy said Aspen Travel had been one of the first UK-based companies to launch an online travel agency, with most of its initial bookings coming from outside the UK – particularly the US.

“We had some media coverage at the time, including local BBC radio, when they were saying that Virgin Atlantic and Aspen Travel were the only two UK travel companies working online,” he explained.

"We later moved into escorted tours and river cruises, as I thought it was really interesting niche product. It was a great blend with online enquiries coming in and then taking the phone calls in the shop.

“About 30% of our business comes through the door and overall, they are bigger, quality bookings – not bucket and spade holidays. We have been selling stuff that people can’t do themselves.”

Profitable business

Clancy, who has worked in travel for 40 years and enjoyed spells earlier in his career with Aer Lingus and TWA, revealed he had decided not to expand the business to additional branches because he “couldn’t stand the idea of driving around” between them.

He added: “Before my 70th birthday, I hadn’t considered retiring at all, but then I suddenly thought – should I be doing this any more? I would like to spend time with my grandkids and travelling, enjoying life.”

Clancy added Aspen Travel has managed to stay profitable throughout its more than 30 years of trading, with an average annual profit of around £250,000, barring those years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.