The Expert Travel Group brings West Country agency C the World and homeworking outfit Doors to Manual together with operator brands Africa & Beyond, Ski Gems and Caledonia Golf Journeys under the same umbrella.
The new group will be led by Founder, Owner and Managing Director Matt Purser, an experienced travel trade professional and former Director of both the Travel Trade Consultancy and the Firebird Partnership, who has in recent years begun assembling a portfolio of travel brands.
The decision to form the group follows "two years of record trading and sustained expansion" and marks the start of its next phase of growth, said The Expert Travel Group this week.
Purser became Managing Director of Africa & Beyond in October 2023 after joining a management buyout featuring the operator's Sales Director Jamie Taylor and other investors from the Firebird Partnership.
Purser went on to acquire three-branch agency C the World in 2024 from founder Carolyn Park, and has since opened a fourth branch in London's Blackheath. Doors to Manual, meanwhile, provides homeworking opportunities for members of cabin crew. It will trade under C the World.
The group said the new structure would allow greater collaboration, investment and operational support across its brands, while preserving their "individual identities and specialist expertise".
An executive leadership team has been put together, which sees Taylor become Sales Director for the wider Expert Travel Group alongside his existing role as Africa & Beyond's Managing Director.
Molly Adshead becomes Operations Director and Cheryl Mallon Marketing Director, while former Aito Commercial Director Christina Brazier joins as Commercial Director.
Separately, Julie Gough has been promoted to Sales Director at Africa & Beyond, where she will lead the operator's sales strategy and focus on developing relationships with the trade.
"Travel agents have always been at the heart of our business and that won't change," said Purser. "We remain firmly committed to working in partnership with the travel trade, providing the specialist knowledge, service and support that help our agent partners deliver outstanding holidays for their clients."
He added the group's ambition was to become "one of the UK's leading independent groups of specialist travel brands" while maintaining the expertise, personal service and trusted relationships that had underpinned the business's previous success.