B2B brand boost

Asked whether Southall Travel would consider having its own retail premises, Wait insists it is not necessary; such is the strength of the company’s business via independent agents with The Holiday Team. “That’s very strong,” he says. “It’s so encouraging to see agents in a high street situation – how well they’re doing.”

New websites are being built for both The Holiday Team and Applehouse Travel, with a strategy rethink and possible image overhaul in the pipeline for the latter.

“There’s a big focus on the trade with what we’re doing with The Holiday Team,” enthuses Wait. “Agents can expect to see more of us. Watch this space.”

Asked about corresponding team growth, Wait says that since his joining, 13 people have been recruited into a variety of roles.

Two new people have joined the sales team, including Stephanie Robertson last week, who is solely focused on The Holiday Team. She is based in the north-west and “will be spending a lot more time out in the regions”.

“I’m bound to say it because I’m from the Wirral,” Wait laughs, “but the north-west is a fantastic part of the world with lots of opportunities and growth.”

Another space to watch is the potential for further brand launches or acquisitions by Southall Travel.

“You focus on what you’ve got currently, you build upon the strengths,” he says. “But Kuljinder is always thinking about what’s next. In terms of acquisitions, he’s always open to people approaching him to give him something to think about. There is a big focus on not waiting for growth to come in, but going out and making it happen.”

Youth market

Part of that “going out and making it happen” is through effective advertising. “Another reason I’m here is to concentrate on the premium market and also appeal to the youth,” Wait says.

“A bit of an ambition of mine – before I start thinking about the doctor’s advice to slow down – is to ensure people are thinking about the company as a bit like the BMW of the travel industry.

“You know when you go into BMW you’re buying quality. All you’re deciding is your budget, your lifestyle and your requirements. What we’ve got with our range of brands enables people to come in as a youngster and build that brand loyalty with us. And then as they enter normal life we have options for anything they want. We want to build that brand loyalty for life.”

Much of Southall Travel’s £12 million a year spent on advertising and sponsorship goes into radio and TV advertising targeted at the UK-based Indian community, Wait says, along with adverts in the mainstream press, perimeter advertising at football grounds, sponsorship of the ICC cricket competition on Sky and “a lot of Google ads”.

“As we’ve extended our brands there are other areas we want to look at as well, with a change in our customer profile and also from the research that I did at the GTMC. We need a healthy UK plc economy to make the jobs to provide disposable income for people to spend on holidays,” Wait tells me.

“You’ve got to start thinking about how you’re reaching people,” he adds. “They’re not automatically going to do what they did before, you’ve got to win them over.”

Indeed, the launch of ST Fly represents somewhat of a new market for Southall Travel: “This week the guys have been at the University of Chester, Liverpool, Kent,” Wait says.

“But rather than going out there with a big bang, it’s about sailing to harbour with nothing but your periscope up, and then you build on that. There’s no point getting the phones ringing if you’re not ready.”

Brexit effect

Wait is equally positive when it comes to Brexit, insisting it offers a possible opportunity. He cites research between the GTMC and Oxford Economics for 2006-2014, which found that 70% of business trips from the UK internationally were to 10 markets, 9 of which were in Europe. The other was the US.

“The entrepreneur-type businesses are already de-risking themselves and doing more with the US [rather than Europe],” says Wait. “Additionally, some politicians have been vocal in saying post-Brexit we need to be doing more business with the Commonwealth countries. There’s an existing relationship: English is the common language and the legal systems are similar.

“Anecdotally, small businesses tell me they’re already looking to do more business with the US, Malaysia, Singapore. I think we’ll have more long-haul business travel, which will in turn create more of a long-haul market.”

Wait adds: “There are few facts around Brexit. I try to see the glass as three-quarters full. While others are focusing on the bad things, we’re focusing on growing our business.”

And whether or not specifically linked to Brexit, Southall Travel is indeed looking at expanding its long-haul offering. Applehouse Travel is exhibiting at the China Britain Trade Expo show this week, for example.

Away Holidays has hired two new product managers to help grow its hotel business in North America and the Caribbean “with some very encouraging results particularly in Mexico and the Caribbean”. “We also want to grow our hotel and ground business more in the Far East and Australasia,” Wait adds.

Whatever may happen externally, it’s clear Southall Travel is focused on its overarching objective: “taking the business to the next level”, with Wait adding that accessing new markets outside of the UK is “very much in Kuljinder’s mind”.

He concludes: “Southall Travel is already a really successful business and has such ambitious growth plans. The key for Kuljinder is customer service, and hearing a business owner place so much emphasis on getting that right is really encouraging.”

Wait’s new role may not be what his doctor ordered, but it seems Southall Travel finds itself in good health with his arrival.