Owner Lee Hunt told TTG he didn’t know if the Suffolk-based store would make it past the first six months of opening due to financial pressures.

"We had nothing," Hunt told TTG. "My credit cards were maxed out, I had no money, everything was spent opening the shop, and we didn’t even know if people were gonna book holidays. I didn’t know if my dream was going to come true.

"At the time, I really couldn’t foresee us 10 years down the line going strong like we are now." 

After defying the odds stacked up against them, Hunt and assistant manager Abi Nunn managed to secure a strong repeat customer base and a team of eager agents.

"Overall, if we look at the 10 years as a complete picture, it’s been very successful," Hunt added.

"We opened the doors with nothing and over time we have built really strong links with the community, a really strong repeat customer base which continues to grow, so overall, very successful." 

But in March 2020, when the UK was first plunged into lockdown due to the outbreak of Covid-19, Deben Travel once again faced intense financial strain. 

"I feel the same way now as when I first opened, pacing around, worrying about money, worrying about people coming in to book holidays," Hunt said.

"Those worries are exactly the same now as what they were 10 years ago, and I shouldn’t be having those worries anymore.

"But, the biggest difference this time is we have an established, experienced team, we have a really good, loyal, strong, database, whereas when we opened, we didn’t have any of that, but now we have that to fall back on, and I absolutely know they will come back to us."

On reaching the decade milestone, Hunt said it filled him with a "sense of pride and achievement". 

"We’ve been involved in births, weddings, deaths, we’ve seen children grow up, we’ve seen children that were teenagers that are now going on their first holidays without their parents. So there is a sense of pride and achievement as well, definitely," Hunt said.

Looking forward, Hunt said Deben Travel will continue to grow by adapting to "what the customer wants" and "staying on point" with new trends.

"If anyone can pretty much book a holiday online, we need to give them a reason to come to us," he continued.

"Without a doubt things have picked up, if we cast our minds back to Saturday, that was the best trading day we’ve had now for two years."

Hunt reported the agency’s forward bookings are "looking healthy" and enquiries are beginning to pick up, despite winter bookings lagging behind the company’s late departures.

"From April onwards we have got a lot of departures, and as we’re only paid when people travel we need people to depart.

"Things are looking pretty good, and we’re already taking a healthy amount of bookings for 2023 so the future is definitely looking bright.

"We just need to continue to adapt to what the customer wants. I’m feeling positive."