Franklin said the team of three, completed by Hannah Eldridge and Sasha Darling, would be more "targeted, focused and strategic" in their approach upon their return.

"The agency sales team was never furloughed completely throughout Covid," said Franklin. "We’ve always been there in some form since March 2020. Yes, it’s not been face-to-face, but agents know we’re on the end of the phone, and that we’ve always aimed to do the right thing by them.

"Now we’re ready to take the next step. The thing we’ve all missed in our jobs is that face-to-face relationship building. Ultimately, I think there’s a lot we can build on and grow anew.

"We’re excited – it’s going to be hard because we’re a smaller team than we were, but we’re a strong one. We’ll be out there, we’ll be seen, we’ll be doing what we need to do and pushing forward.

Franklin was speaking at the launch of Inghams’ 2021/22 winter programme in London, which featured an update from Joe Ponte, chief executive of Inghams parent Hotelplan UK, as well as updates from several of the resorts, destinations and regions set to feature in the programme.

She reiterated the importance of agents to Inghams. "Trade is about 50% of our ski business, and the same with summer," said Franklin. "By no means a small part. Lapland agent business is even higher, more like 75%. It’s really strong with the trade. Our focus [on the trade] has never faded. We need to get this winter season under our belts, and then we’ll look to grow again.

"We’re confident we can do things differently, built on what we’ve already got, and grow trade business. I’m an agent at heart, I was an agent for more than 20 years. That is our business, we are big in trade, and we will continue that focus."

Franklin also hinted she saw a future for the online support and virtual communication people have become used to during the pandemic, stressing she felt it would play a different role in the team’s trade activity in the post-Covid times to come.

"I think there’s room for both approaches in future," she said. "As an agency sales team, no matter who you are, you will drive around the country for meetings. But there are definitely times for Zoom and Teams, and equally, there is time for face-to-face. I think face-to-face will be more about building and cementing relationships – coffees, lunches, dinners, it won’t always be about business face-to-face because you can do that in other ways.

"We’ve got to the stage now where we’ve gone through so many different chapters in the last little while – reassurance, being there to support, lending an ear, and so on. Now we’re at the stage where agents are busy, and we’re busy. It’s a case now of us being out there to drive the business."