The company, which has 11 branches, opened two new shops and founder Peter Cookson said more deals were on the cards.

“We’re obviously looking at further acquisitions probably in the later part of 2016,” he told TTG.

“The year was fantastic. Turnover was up 33%, profit before tax was up 55%.”

Cookson said that the focus for the first part of the year would be on the refurbishment of certain shops.

He said the improved performance was the result of better support from tour operators and an increased focus on marketing.

“I think were getting a lot more support from the tour operators now because I think we’re that little bit bigger.

“The economy is picking up a bit but I think generally the market is slightly more buoyant and we’re benefiting from it.

“We’ve put a big investment into the marketing side of the business.”

Spear Travels has been working closely with marketing and support company 3For, which was setup by former Co-operative retail director Trevor Davies.

Together they are now producing regular e-shots for clients and holding more in-store events.

Last year the travel industry faced a number of difficulties with geopolitical problems affecting a number of favoured holiday destinations including Greece and Egypt.

Cookson said that in the wake of this, Croatia as a destination had performed really well.

“Croatia benefited massively but then France, Spain and Italy, three traditional areas, were big for us last year. They grew on the back of everything else happening.

“Greece was a tough sell, Turkey was a tough sell, even Cyprus was a tough sell last year."

He added: “We can adapt, we can change, clients still want to travel and they want to go on holiday – end of story.”