Experienced sales and business development managers can join the company as franchisees, offering full-service account management to clients by working with fellow corporate Travel Counsellors to make bookings.   

The company’s new cohort of business development franchisees has brought in more than £10 million in new accounts since the beginning of last year, working with teams of corporate Travel Counsellors after agreeing a commission split.

Travel Counsellors corporate managing director, Kieran Hartwell, said: “The concept of Travel Counsellors business owners working in duos, trios or teams is not new to us, especially within our corporate travel division, however, we’ve formalised the opportunity and extended this further by enabling a new franchise position focussed on sales and business development.

“There is a wealth of talent in the corporate travel industry who are experts at sourcing solutions to clients’ problems and creating seamless booking and travel experiences, acting as an extension of in-house teams. We want to harness this talent by keeping people in the industry who can be there for their clients and support businesses to get moving again.

“The personal service provided by experienced travel managers can only become more valuable as we seek to understand and advise on the latest updates and government announcements on travel, including the impact of the traffic light system and associated testing requirements.

“We firmly believe that the future of business travel will be built around a highly personalised and trusted concierge-style service, working closely with clients to unravel the complexities we may continue to see in the coming weeks and months.”

Now numbering 10 business development managers running their own franchise with Travel Counsellors for Business, the new opportunity has also enabled members of the company’s support team to transition from colleagues to franchise owners focused on bringing new corporate accounts into the business, Travel Counsellors said, with plans to recruit up to 20 more business development franchisees over the next year.

In the last 12 months, Travel Counsellors corporate and leisure travel divisions have welcomed more than 150 new franchise owners, with five independent travel agencies and micro travel management companies leaving the high street or “bricks and mortar” office spaces to run their travel businesses remotely.

Travel Counsellors is staging its first virtual corporate travel conference this month.

Travel Counsellors for Business further reports that it’s continuing to see the biggest market recovery in the manufacturing, professional and financial services, week-on-week.