The agency, which was last summer named The Travel Network Group’s Worldchoice Plus Member of the Year, has had offices in Great Malvern for the past 17 years where it has grown a large and loyal local clientele, while also attracting customers from all over the UK.

Owners Lee and Hilary Harrison – and their two dogs – have had a business presence in the Worcestershire town for 40 years overall, with Lee taking his first step into travel as an overseas rep for Medina Holidays in the 1980s.

Lee said Malvern World hoped to be set up in their new offices in Washford near Dunster, which is situated on the historic West Somerset Railway between Exmoor and the Quantock hills, by next Wednesday (28 October).

Visits to new location will be welcome, but by appointment only. The couple have a daughter living in Taunton, so part of the motivation for the move was to be nearer to her. Lee told TTG it would be very much business as usual for the agency’s clients.

“We’ve grown such a large client base beyond the local area,” he said. “But with things like WiFi now available in the car, we can look after our clients from wherever we are – I even took a cruise booking on the latest drive down to Somerset. It’s a big step, but hopefully into the right area.”

Lee said while existing local clients were sad to see them leave physically, many said they will still use them “no matter where they are”. “One client said, ‘where will I get my brochures from now?’,” Lee revealed.

He added the agency will utilise TTNG’s “exceptional” marketing team to help it build its presence in Somerset with graphics and postal drops. “There are some interesting venues in the area, like a medieval hall in Dunster, so maybe we can hold events in places like that.”

He also joked: “If worst comes to worst, I can always get a job as a Redcoat at Butlin’s in Minehead!”

Lee said bookings were going well for Malvern World Travel, with the agency taking a £20,000 P&O Cruises booking just this week – a 35-night Caribbean round-trip from Southampton in 2029.

The Harrisons still have lots of friends and family in Malvern so “will be backwards and forwards” between their two bases. “We could still drop tickets off to anyone who needed them really urgently,” Lee added.