Halstead Travel owner Sloan has been working tirelessly for several months towards opening the shop in Coggeshall, which is about five miles from her home in Earls Colne in Essex.
“There was a real buzz at the shop on Saturday,” Sloan told TTG. “I couldn't believe it. I’m losing my voice. It’s a dream to be here in Coggeshall – I’ve got so many lovely messages which I’ve only had time to go through now. It was a lovely day. I didn't expect to be as busy as it was.”
While deciding where to open her first shop, Sloan spoke to local residents in Coggeshall to find out how receptive they would be to a travel agency returning to the high street there.
She filmed residents and cut the footage to create a five-minute video outlining why she should open an agency branch in the Essex village. She later used the video to successfully pitch for £8,000 from Jet2holidays’ Scale Up Your Street campaign.
On Saturday (20 September), when Halstead Travel opened its doors for the first time, Jet2holidays trade sales executive Ryan Clayton joined a handful of supplier representatives there to support Sloan, who will largely work on her own in the shop.
Clayton earned the nickname “Raffle Ryan” for the amount of raffle tickets he sold at the opening. The raffle raised £378 for local primary school St Peter’s, according to Sloan, who said the teachers were “really thankful” for the support.
Arline Sloan's sister-in-law Stacey Koeck, Ryan Clayton and Sloan outside Halstead Travel's first-ever branch (Credit: Arline Sloan/ Halstead Travel)
Sloan confirmed she got “a lot” of enquiries on the day but didn’t manage to confirm any bookings. However, she added she has managed to arrange several appointments in the shop this week.
One couple joined the celebrations in the morning before flying to Greek island Kefalonia later in the day on a holiday Sloan had booked.
“Mr and Mrs Faux bought some raffle tickets and actually won a bottle of Prosecco, which is sitting right next to me,” explained Sloan. “They want to book a holiday to Zante next year with me.”
Sloan reckons she’s had around 20 people express an interest in working for her at the Halstead Travel – including a former member of British Airways cabin crew employee with nearly 20 years' industry experience.
Sloan, though, is keen to “assess” things before hiring more staff members. She has already recruited the services of her sister-in-law Stacey Koeck who will work 10 hours each week and her daughter who will help out on Saturdays.
"I'm close to hitting a million pounds in sales this year," said Sloan. "By the end of May I had hit £500,000 so I'm progressing well."
