Midcounties Co-operative Consortium is launching its first advertising campaign this week as online travel agency ULookUBook.com becomes the latest member to join.
The consortium now has six members and is in talks with about 20 potential new members, six of whom are at an advanced stage of signing up.
Its first ad campaign will test interest in the trade in a bid to recruit more agents. The ads will publicise its status as the largest independent Co-op consortium, so the rates it receives in areas such as terms, overrides and rental costs are passed directly on to members.
Alistair Rowland, group general manager of Midcounties Co-op, said: “We are well on the way for £100 million [turnover] from agencies within three years.”
He added the focus was on quality agents rather than those with a specific turnover. “It’s about quality, individual agents rather than the size of their business,” he said.
ULookUBook.com, which was previously a member of Advantage Travel Centres, has switched to Midcounties to comply with the new Flight-Plus Atol regulations.
Managing director Steve Campion said: “We chose Midcounties because it is a member of Advantage and it had an existing Atol scheme.”
Midcounties’ current members are: ULookUBook.com; Blue Bay Travel; Wedding TV Travel; JDA Travel (Everywhere Travel), Channel Islands Co-operative and Chelmsford Star Co-operative.