I HAVE been very fortunate to have been involved in three of the travel industry’s most memorable events.
The first was the development of the Lunn Poly Holiday Shop concept and the subsequent roll out of over 500 shops. The second was the rebirth of Owners Abroad as First Choice and the third is the creation of Travel Choice.
If there is a single common thread associated with each of these events, it is that if we had stopped to question if the project was do-able, we would never have started! All three were rollercoaster rides, involving significant numbers of people working really hard but with a common-sense of purpose and excitement.
I guess excitement is one of the key characteristics which best describes the travel industry and it’s one of the reasons that I have stayed in the business for 18 years.
I started off in personnel and training and then moved into line management. Personnel and training (or human resources as it has now become!) was a great introduction to business but I have never regretted the move into line management. There is no substitute for the adrenaline rush when the sales figures come through on a Saturday night. Particularly in my early days, managing a region at Lunn Poly, I loved being able to influence events directly. Invariably, in personnel and training the task is to influence remotely rather than directly. I guess I’m too impatient. I remember once visiting a shop with a regional manager when I was still in personnel and, just as we arrived, a lady was leaving with an armful of brochures. I couldn’t believe my ears as the shop manager leant across the counter and said, “would madam care for a wheelbarrow?”
Probably because of my background I have always regarded my staff as being fundamentally important in achieving results. At the end of the day, no matter how talented an individual may be, he or she has to rely on other people to make things happen.
I have come across one or two people in my time who were so hands on that it just stultified the people beneath them. If people are to grow and develop, they need to have a bit of space even if that means making a few mistakes. The key is to use these mistakes as learning opportunities.
That being the case, I think it is important for senior people in organisations to provide clear direction. Part of that is to keep the business simple and essential in achieving that is good communication. I believe that applies externally as well as internally, so communicating simply and effectively with your customers is crucial. There is no question about it that over the years the customer has become more demanding. I remember, going back to my Ellerman Travel days, once seeing a letter of complaint about a tour operator which concluded: “This is the 13th year I have travelled with XYZ holidays and they’ve all been rubbish”.
It has been a great privilege to have a blank sheet of paper on which to create Travel Choice. That has been a unique opportunity to come up with a proposition that focuses on the customer.
At every stage of the development of the Travel Choice concept we have talked to customers about their likes and dislikes. We used their feedback to not only shape the physical environment of our shops, but also the service we provide and how we communicate with our customers. Having a blank sheet of paper also meant that I could recruit the team I wanted and, as a result, I think we have a first-class team of people at Travel Choice, they frighten me at any rate!
We started opening our shops on the May 1 and we opened 67 in 90 days. That was phenomenally hard work but it was also, and still is, great fun. Fun would, at one time, have been an automatic selection as another of the key characteristics to describe the travel industry. It still is, but I think we have to work a harder at keeping it fun compared to a few years ago. I would like to think that at Travel Choice, our staff and our customers have fun. They should do because it is a great business buying and selling holidays what a lovely way to make a living!
1974:graduated from University of Glasgow and then spent five years in personnel and training within the electronics industry.
1981:made the move to Ellerman Travel in the position of personnel and training manager.
1986: joined Lunn Poly as general manager (east), then became head of personnel, then moved to sales director (Midlands), and finally spent four years in the position of operations director.
1993: joined Owners Abroad as sales director six months before it was relaunched as First Choice.
1995: appointed operations director at Airtours.
1998: rejoined First Choice as managing director in order to set to set up their greenfield shop network, which was subsequently named Travel Choice. Travel Choice also includes Intatravel and Travelworld.
l Surround yourself with people who are better than you.
l Set impossible goals.
l Ensure that you make time to talk to your customers.
l Try to keep your business as simple as possible.
l Provide clear direction.
l Most importantly make sure that you have fun.