Dawson & Sanderson,one of the UK’s oldest independent travel agency chains, celebrates its 50th year this month. Juliet Dennis reports
For 50 years, independent agency chain Dawson & Sanderson has been quietly going about its business.
Not many may realise
that the 21-strong branch of
high street shops, based in the north of England, was one of the first to secure an Atol licence and one of the first to offer free insurance and no deposits, marketing tactics then adopted across the trade at that time.
The business, which employs 250 staff, is still owned by original family founders Tom and Sylvia Dawson.
Sales and marketing director Chris Harrison, due to take over from managing director Chris Pattison when he retires in 2015, admitted the group has always maintained a low profile while focusing on its business.
“Our focus is in driving our business forward; we just get on with things quietly,” he said.
“For the last 30 of our 50 years, Chris (Pattison) has built up the business. We are one of the oldest independents still owned by the family. Lots of other businesses have been sold in that time.”
As the group celebrates its 50th birthday, Harrison has not ruled out expansion of its retail network.
“We are always looking for the right opportunity. We are very specific about where we want to be and there are about four or five locations we would love to be in, but we are not averse to going ‘off patch’,” he said.
Harrison believes the industry is experiencing a renaissance in the high street as customers return to booking financially-protected packages. About 60% of business is packages, and 40% dynamic packages.
“I feel there is a high street renaissance. There have been a lot of challenges, like the ash cloud, where people have had their fingers burnt. So many people
are time-poor, want personal service and
say the internet is a minefield.”
Although the company’s core business is, and will remain, its high street shops, it is targeting growth online. Currently, 15% of sales are online and this is growing through the company’s websites: Holidayco.co.uk, which has traded since the start of 2010; Giftmyhoneymoon.co.uk, which launched this year; and its latest addition this summer, Holidaypiggybank.com.
Holidaypiggybank allows customers to save money for a holiday booked at one of the group’s agencies.
“For people who want to budget and save up gradually for their holiday this allows them to put payments into a fund that they can track,” said Harrison.
Customers can set up accounts on the site via their local branch or set up direct debits online. For group bookings, it means each member travelling can pay into a fund, rather than a lead member of the group having to foot the travel bill up front and recoup money from the other holidaymakers later.
“We are finding that people are committing to holidays early again, which is great because this gives them a budgeting tool,” added Harrison.