Founded in 1988, Fred Olsen Travel has become one of the trade’s household names, with 18 branches across East Anglia, the south coast and West Sussex, as well as its own in-house tour operator – Fred Holidays – and a burgeoning homeworking cohort, now 57 strong.

But speaking to TTG exclusively to mark Fred Olsen Travel’s 35th anniversary, its bosses sense room for growth across all three strands of the business. Retail director Paul Hardwick says the aim is to open at least another seven branches over the next couple of years – 25 by 2025.

“It could potentially be more than that as it’s all about getting the right location and the right people,” says Hardwick, who was appointed to his role earlier this year following a strategic review.

He explains Fred Olsen is also looking at other growth opportunities, including through acquisitions and by expanding into new regions to create “clusters” of agencies.

“I don’t think anything’s off the cards, I’ve just got to persuade Steve and the board to invest in it,” he grins. “But they’ve proved they’re willing to invest – throughout the pandemic, we’ve opened or acquired seven new businesses that have added to our portfolio.”

Hardwick also sees Fred Olsen’s homeworking network as “a great opportunity for growth” for the company and individual agents alike.

“We offer something quite unique as we bring people into the business and offer them training and a hands-off approach,” Hardwick continues. “We’re not telling them what they can and can’t do, we’re just here to support them.”

’Customers are valuing agents more than ever’

Williams and Hardwick’s ambitious expansion plans are shared by Tricia Birmingham, Fred Olsen director of tour operations. Birmingham joined the team in May after almost seven years with Gold Medal parent dnata, and believes Fred Olsen can triple the size of its tour operator by 2030.

“I’m focusing on the service-led proposition we’ve got,” she says, revealing the tour operator – which sells in-house and through third parties – is actively looking to work more with agents.

The brand has launched several incentives and competitions to support its newest brochure, which includes bespoke itineraries such as a cruise combined with a trip to Las Vegas for its inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix in November. “There’s a lot of things we’re pushing out,” Birmingham adds.

The business, the bosses say, can sustain this push while supporting its growth owing to its rude financial health; Fred Olsen Travel saw double-digit year-on-year growth earlier this year, and is on track to become a £100 million a year business by the end of the year.

“Coming out of the pandemic, our margins are 0.6% higher than pre-pandemic even after discounting,” Hardwick explains. “Customers are valuing agents more than they’ve ever done before so we’re not having to price match as much.”

Nevertheless, it’s not all smooth sailing for Fred Olsen as, like many others, the company is facing post-pandemic staffing issues and will soon be forced to start recruiting from outside of the industry.

“We lost a lot of good people for one reason or another,” adds Williams. “So I think the biggest challenge facing the industry is just how we replace that knowledge and experience we have lost.”

The issue, Williams says, is made more difficult by how well-travelled customers are and how much they know about their destination. “They’re experienced travellers and they’ve done their research,” he says. “They want to talk to someone who can show some empathy to where they’re going, and that’s so hard.”