Director Claire Smith launched the homeworking operation in April, but quickly realised she would need to hand over responsibility for leading the current team of three to someone else.
Now, with another five homeworkers – including two who are new to travel – ready to start in September, Claire has brought in husband James, who has industry experience working for Jetset and Mainstreet Travel Group, as director of operations to oversee the soon-to-be team of eight.
Claire founded Coconut Travel from home in 2021 before jumping onto the high street in Blackhall Colliery near Peterlee just three months later.
"I’m very hands on and very frontline," she told TTG. "I sell holidays to the public. I didn’t really want to tie myself down with another shop so I thought why not set up a homeworking division. It’s been quite difficult to do both so I asked James to come into the business with me."
James promptly handed in his notice at Mainstreet and has already started his new role supporting Coconut’s burgeoning homeworking division while also overseeing day-to-day operations at the agency.
In a Facebook post announcing the move, Claire wrote: "We are absolutely thrilled to officially welcome James as our operations director at Coconut Travel.
"With more than 30 years’ experience in the global travel industry, James is a true expert in the field. He’ll be leading our homeworking division and overseeing the day-to-day operations as we scale up and continue to innovate across the business.
"Not only is James a seasoned professional, he also happens to be my husband — and I couldn’t be prouder to take this next step together."
’So passionate about travel’
Claire said her recruitment policy for the homeworking division would prioritise "quality over quantity", although she stressed that didn’t mean the door was closed to new or unproven talent.
"There are people that are passionate about travel but cannot get their foot in the door," she continued. "I ask applicants to describe why they want to come into travel. They’ve usually either done their travel and tourism qualifications and they cannot get a break, or they’re new to travel."
Claire said having homeworkers still felt "very new". "I say to the homeworkers, ’we’re all in this journey together’. I’m totally honest with them. I’m so passionate about travel and training. If you were to cut me, planes and cruise ships would come out of me."
Claire added: "One day, I want to set up a travel academy where we take on students and give them some experience. That’s always been my aim in life but it’s not going to happen any time soon."
She highlights Liz Houghton, who started in Coconut’s shop in May 2022 as an intern. "She messaged me randomly. I used to book her holidays. I said she could do some work for me, but that I couldn’t promise a job. She had worked in retail but never in travel.
"Liz worked for me without pay for nine to 10 months. At that time, I was the only person running the shop. When I told her that she had got a job at Coconut Travel, she was over the moon. She absolutely loved it."
