Admiral owner Andrew Nelson learned Brant Travel was available when Philippa Smith, one of two co-owners, contacted him to see if he would be interested in buying a share of the business.
The pair have known each other for more 10 years with both their agencies being members of the Hays Travel Independence Group.
However, once Nelson sat down with Smith and her business partner, they decided Admiral would buy out the business with Smith staying on to manage the agency in Lincoln, which is situated around 110 miles from Admiral's Altrincham HQ.
Brant Travel, which will retain its name and branding, has three other members of staff, all three of whom will remain in their roles following the sale.
The acquisition grows Admiral's network to seven shops. Other branches include Altrincham, Cheadle, Wilmslow, Cockermouth, Workington and Kendal.
Asked what changes would be made to Brant Travel, Nelson said: "They will only be small. We will look at marketing, both social media and local marketing.
"We'll encourage Brant to host events and be both proactive and reactive. For example, having tour operator nights where one tour operator has a specialist in store for the day or hiring a bar or a restaurant and having a number of tour operators there. In addition, we'll also look at the signage and windows.
"Brant Travel is our seventh shop. We're not McDonald’s. We don’t need our branding everywhere."
Nelson said Brant Travel was a good fit as it sells similar products to the majority of Admiral Travel's other shops. However, it will not offer foreign exchange like some of the existing branches.
"It’s all horses for courses," explained Nelson, who revealed bookings across all of Admiral's shops are currently tracking ahead of last year.
Eighth shop?
Nelson also revealed he has identified several towns around Manchester he believes "could benefit from having a travel agency or another agency" and might be good locations to expand Admiral Travel's retail network.
However, he added: "Let’s get Brant Travel over the line so we can look at shop number eight. It will be a brand new travel shop in a town somewhere around Manchester.
"That is not to say we’re not open to buying other travel agencies, we just have to be familiar with the people involved. It's about finding the right business for us. At the end of the day, we’re financially sound. We don’t need to take risks, and that pays off in terms of cash flow."
