Fred Olsen Travel has shrugged off Brexit fears by opening a second store in as many weeks and reporting 30% growth.
The Ipswich-based agency this week opened a shop in its home town under its TravelQuest brand.
It follows the opening of a Fred Olsen Travel in Beales department store in Bournemouth last week and takes the number of shops in the agency’s portfolio to 13.
Both new outlets, which have undergone ‘soft launches’, will officially open in early October and employ four staff.
Fred Olsen opened its first two shops on the south coast – a stronghold of rival Hays Travel – last year in Lymington, Hampshire, and Westbourne, Dorset.
It also took over Dorchester Travel on the south coast and relocated its Fred Olsen agency in Ipswich town centre to local department store Coes.
Retail director Paul Hardwick said the TravelQuest shop, which specialises in tailor-made and niche adventure holidays, would attract a new customer base to Ipswich that would not compete with its Fred Olsen store.
It already operates a TravelQuest shop in nearby Woodbridge.
“We don’t want to grow too fast but we’re always looking for acquisitions and new stores,” Hardwick said. “We see high street retail on the up, offering a unique service to customers which online businesses can’t.
“We were concerned about Brexit but we’re still growing – we’ve seen 30% growth this year so far.”
Hardwick said Beales department store was one of the first places the business had looked at for a new travel agency in Bournemouth.