The shop, Olive Lounge Travel's third, is on course to open on 1 December, complementing its existing branches in Cross Hills and Bingley, which opened its doors last November. The agency was earlier this year named TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies Top Agency in Yorkshire.
Co-founder Gillian Polyhos told TTG the team were "buzzing" about the agency's latest expansion plans. "Obviously, there's an element of nervousness, but that's natural," said Polyhos, who co-founded the business with Joanne Edwards in 2015.
The duo, together with administration manager Elfie Higson, have been working hard to refurbish the premises outside working hours. "We're nearly there," Polyhos continued.
"We're just waiting for a few things like the broadband. We try to use local people. We use the same telecommunications people, for example. We're doing the refurbishment and the design ourselves. It's great fun going out to source the desks and decide the colour scheme.
"The shop is going to be slightly different from what we've got at the moment. It's going to be a little bit more chic with rich blue, green and gold colours.
"It has a cottage feel about it. It will have an electric fire with flames. It will be quite homely. The day we went to view the place, there was another couple having a look, but the landlord looked into our business and went with us."
Luxury focus
The agency, Polyhos said, would rotate existing staff between the three shops and potentially recruit more next year. "We won't recruit right now," she said. "We need to see how things go. We cover the Skipton area already with our Cross Hills shop so we're just being cautious."
Polyhos said Skipton would seek to tap into the premium and luxury markets. "We want Skipton to focus more on our Collection, which is our high-end product range," she explained.
"We sell these products across the board, but we'd like Skipton to focus more on If Only, Jet2's Indulgent Escapes and easyJet Holidays' Luxury Collection."
The Skipton branch will have three selling desks, the same as Cross Hills, while Bingley has four. Cross Hills, though, remains the agency's HQ with admin desks upstairs.
Polyhos said there would be a celebration to mark the official opening with local dignitaries and suppliers.
The perks of being independent
Skipton already has two agencies – an Althams Travel and a Spear Travels – but Polyhos insisted she wasn't fazed by the competition. "We're the only small independent in Skipton," she said.
"It does help being an independent because we're able to sell whatever we want to our customers, whatever is right for them. We don't have to sell certain in-house products."
Meanwhile, Polyhos revealed the agency's homeworking network had contracted from 19 at the start of the year to five. "We've not got as many homeworkers as we did. We've got five at the moment. Five of the best – that is what it is all about.
"The homeworking market is saturated at the moment. As a business, we try to recruit organically. We do it sporadically and put out the odd advertisement. Some of our homeworkers left because they did not do any bookings and realised how hard it was. Each time we recruit you learn something new."
