Comment: Miles Morgan deserves all the plaudits

When we heard last week that Miles Morgan had sold his 19-shop business to Hays Travel and would be leaving the industry for good to focus on his family and farm, I admit to being a bit emotional. I was delighted for him for having built a brilliant business and selling out at the top, but sad to say goodbye to one of the most experienced, committed, passionate and fun agents in the industry.

I remember when Miles set up the business with 10 former Tui shops, he toyed with calling it Morgan Cavendish as he thought it sounded posh! He even had swanky logos designed, but in the end decided to put his own name above the doors.

Doing so meant the buck stopped with him. He had to deliver top?quality holidays, impeccable customer service and genuine loyalty to his clients and staff.

The outpouring of love and respect on social media following his announcement signals he nailed all three and, in his words, succeeded by “doing things differently”. For example, instead of throwing a regular party on the business’s 10th anniversary, Miles took supplier partners (and me) skid car racing and tank driving!

He made videos for clients all through the pandemic, explaining as best he could what was going on. And he talked at Travel Weekly’s flagship Future of Travel Conference about customer service, proudly producing a branded dog bowl as an example of going the extra mile.

Now he is swapping agency life for his alpacas, we’ll miss his regular Travel Weekly column, his decency, humour and cheek. We wish him all the best for the future.