Lee Butler opened the shop in Aberdeen where he grew up on 3 July, and in the 28 days that followed, made 116 bookings worth £442,000 with the help of his partner Callum Brown. So far this month, Butler and Brown have made 65 bookings – with six sales coming on the day he speaks exclusively to TTG.

Butler, who left the police after 10 years when he took a blow to the head responding to a "domestic incident", explains he is making higher value bookings now he has a retail branch. Prior to opening his first shop, Butler joined Janine Loves Travel in October 2024 as a home-based consultant before jumping onto the high street last month.

"My biggest supplier is Tui, which has an operating base up here in Aberdeen," Butler says. "That will never change, but all bookings have risen by 35% since we opened our branch, and that's because we're selling brands I never sold as a homeworker.

"We'd never sold Newmarket Holidays, If Only, American Holidays and Sovereign before, but we are now. We've always sold cruise, but we're now selling higher-end lines like Regent Seven Seas and Silversea."

Butler's Travel

Butler adds: "The fact is if you're looking to book a £2,000 family holiday, you might book online, but if you're looking to book a £20,000 dream holiday to Patagonia, you need to be able to look into the whites of the eyes of the person selling you the trip. You need to be able to trust them."

Butler sold two former police colleagues a £20,000 trip to Patagonia before the store's official opening and subsequently invited the husband and wife couple to pop in and cut the ribbon at the shop last month.

'We're losing business'

Butler says his ex-colleagues are among his agency's best customers. However, he admits that Butler's Travel is missing out on bookings because demand is so strong. "We're losing bookings on social media or enquiries that come via the website," he explains. "We just do not have time to get back to people."

He admits it was difficult to switch off as a homeworker, but the number of enquiries the business is receiving means it remains hard to stop thinking about work. "It never ends," he says.

Butler reveals it currently takes him and Brown two days to respond to customer enquires online, but hopes to cut that to "two or three hours" soon.

Butler's Travel

On Monday (17 August), Butler started advertising for an experienced travel agent to join the agency. "I do want to one day take on someone new to travel but right now it would not be fair on them," Butler continues. "The new starter has to be experienced."

Butler says he is interested in offering an apprenticeship through the secondary school he attended, Hazlehead Academy. He achieved the highest mark in Scotland when he completed his travel and tourism course there.

'I wanted to rebel'

Interestingly, he decided to not pursue a career in travel straight away. "I did not have the greatest upbringing, so I thought the best way to rebel against that was to become a police officer," he reveals.

His police career ended 10 years later when he was struck across the head by an object causing an injury that prompted the police federation to make him an offer to retire he could not refuse.

Despite his police pension, which he can start receiving when he's 55, the 37-year-old hopes to retire at that age with a couple of travel agency branches.

Expansion plans

"I'm 18 months into my five-year business plan," he says. "Within two years, I would like two stores in the northeast of Scotland. I'm not interested in going elsewhere. There are a couple of areas in north-east of Scotland where there are opportunities."

After leaving the police, Butler initially became a taxi driver. "I came into travel when I saw an opportunity in Aberdeen," he explains. "I saw there were only the mainstream agencies in a city of 250,000 people.

"It just felt like people were screaming out for an independent agency. I was driving some customers to the airport and they were complaining about the lack of departures from Aberdeen airport when the penny dropped."