Spear Travels is buying Tickets Anywhere from well-known industry figure Bryony Hordern, who is to retire after half a century in travel.
Hordern, a former board director of Advantage Travel Partnership, set up the agency in Thame, Oxfordshire, as a ‘bucket shop’ 33 years ago.
All four staff are being retained under the deal, due to be completed by the end of January. The shop will be rebranded Spear Travels.
The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, will bring the number of shops in Spear Travel’s portfolio to ten.
Spear Travels managing director Peter Cookson said: “We are delighted to be acquiring Tickets Anywhere. Bryony’s background is very similar to ours and this is a good fit. We might even look to recruit another member of staff.”
He is confident existing clients will continue to use the shop despite the name change. “We did think about it but we thought it was better to do now rather than later on.”
Hordern, who started her career in the industry as a typist at Qantas 50 years ago, agreed: “People book with the staff. This is a new beginning and a great opportunity. The staff are very excited.”
Hordern said it was “the right time” for her to retire after 50 years in the industry. “I have been looking to sell and this is a good match. It was important that the staff would be well looked after,” she said.
A letter is being sent out to all Tickets Anywhere’s clients.
The agency will be Spear Travels’ first in Oxfordshire. The group is targeting 15 agencies in total in the next couple of years. A further agency in the west country is currently under consideration.
“We are growing at a sensible rate of one to three shops a year and cherry-picking the ones that we think will fit our brand. It’s about economies of scale now,” said Cookson.
The group, which also has 17 homeworkers, has doubled its turnover in the last three to four years. January sales are 60% up year on year.