Fusion Holidays director Harry Lightfoot told TTG he is racing to complete the £15,000 revamp at Findon Vale Garden Centre so he can open the branch next week.
Lightfoot founded the business in 2013 and initially traded online as Fusion Cruises before opening the first Fusion Holidays shop in Rustington, West Sussex, four years later. In 2023, Lightfoot opened the agency’s second shop in Stansted Park Garden Centre, also in West Sussex.
On Wednesday (5 March), Lightfoot said: “I literally got the keys today. We’re looking at turning it around for £15,000. We’re doing a carbon copy of the second shop. We can make it nice for that sort of money. I’m really pushing for us to open the store next week.”
When asked why having a travel agency branch at garden centre works so well, Lightfoot said: “They’re not cheap garden centres. They attract the right demographic who have a disposable income. Customers come from far and wide and spend the day there. It’s not like on the high street where it’s all a bit of rush.
"Here, we have a chat about the holiday, the customers go and get a coffee and do some more shopping and then they might come back and book the quote that we’ve just given them. It’s a natural fit for us.”
Your Garden Centre Group owns both the Stansted Park Garden Centre and the Findon Vale Garden Centre where Fusion has branches, and Lightfoot said he had “a good relationship” with the group’s owner.
“They’re going to look at buying another garden centre in the next 12 months,” Lightfoot explained. “We will look at opening a fourth shop there, but we don’t want to overstretch ourselves. Stansted has done really well though, that’s for sure.”
Lightfoot said it was the garden centre group owner who encouraged him to think about opening another branch at Findon Vale Garden Centre
Fusion Holidays agents Jess Morton – part of last year’s TTG Sustainable Travel Ambassadors cohort – and Niki Barnes will be based at the Findon Vale branch.
However, Lightfoot insists he will be flitting between the three branches and supporting both members of staff after it opens. “I will be driving to and from the branch supporting when I can,” he added.
Lightfoot said the Findon Vale branch will have a grand opening with Crystal, Abercrombie & Kent and Uniworld attending at some point this year, but for now, it will be a soft launch.
“We will do something with suppliers that have contributed to our marketing,” he insisted.
