Co-founder of Andara Travel, Sandra Mutter, joined forces with family friend Dave Allen to set up an agency in Solihull, and says they are never going to move again! Juliet Dennis reports
Q. Tell us about the agency’s roots?
A. We started in March 2014. Dave was not in travel; he was made redundant from the paper industry. I worked for another local independent agency which I loved. David had travelled the world and said to me, “why don’t we set up a travel business?” I had young kids, but he said he’d run the business and I’d work there three days a week. We started with no customers, but on our first day we got a £15,000 booking to China from a friend. She was determined to be the first customer through the door, and she was! She’s still booking with us today.
We started with no customers, but on our first day we got a £15,000 booking to China from a friend
Q. How did you grow the business initially?
A. The business started off by taking bookings from friends and family. For the first two and a half years we worked hard to make the business profitable. Then Dave had a job offer he couldn’t refuse, which involved him working elsewhere four days a week, so between 2016 and 2021 I was running the agency on my own four days a week with a young family, which was never something I’d planned to do! After a fairly low-key start to the business it grew rapidly as word spread about us.
Between 2016 and 2021 I was running the agency on my own four days a week with a young family, which was never something I’d planned to do!
Q. What was your first shop like?
A. On day one we opened in a craft barn in the countryside. It was a mini retail park with six or seven units. We were there from 2014 and left in July 2021 when we had to give up the shop due to Covid. In that time we had increased our team to seven staff including us. We employed an administrative person to help us out, as well as friends and their children to work Saturdays. People were constantly in and out of the shop, it was a very sociable place.
We employed an administrative person to help us out, as well as friends and their children to work Saturdays
Q. What did you do when Covid hit?
A. It wasn’t a good time. We furloughed the staff and topped up their salaries, but I was working 12 to 14 hours a day, trying everything to get money back for clients. Dave was working on his other business. In the end, we had to make everyone redundant. We couldn’t afford to keep them on. I found it hard to cope; I was in survival mode. We didn’t know where we were going with the business. Before Covid we were members of the Freedom Travel Group consortium so to have Covid on the back of [Thomas Cook’s collapse] was a nightmare.
We furloughed the staff and topped up their salaries, but I was working 12 to 14 hours a day, trying everything to get money back for clients
Q. What difference did it make relocating the business to your home?
A. It has actually been a bit of a blessing in disguise for us [as a business]. We see clients at my kitchen table; it sounds weird but people really like it. Only people who are serious about booking come because they know they have to make the effort to visit my house.
During Covid, clients were coming to see me in my garden to talk about existing holidays, which was really nice. When we gave up the shop we rented an office for six months, but never used it and people were still coming round to the house, so instead we converted my spare bedroom into an office.
Our conversion rate is really high and we are working on bigger business.
Since 2019 turnover has dropped, but we’re now more profitable. Our booking values have doubled. A lot of that is because we now have clients from outside the area. We have customers in the US who book European holidays through us. One client moved to Devon and recommended us to their neighbours.
When we gave up the shop we rented an office for six months, but never used it and people were still coming round to the house, so instead we converted my spare bedroom into an office
Q. Would you consider going back into a shop?
A. Definitely not, we are never going to move again! We get on so much better now that we don’t have the shop – we had different ideas about how to run it. We are back to doing what we did when we started the business: booking holidays. I have nine enquiries on my desk now – I’m loving it. I love taking someone out of their comfort zone and suggesting a different country and holiday. My biggest thrill is when I get a text or pictures from a client on their holiday.
We get on so much better now that we don’t have the shop – we had different ideas about how to run it
What’s it like working for a family friend?
Dave came back into the business full-time in July 2021. It is quite intense working closely together. We are incredibly different as people in how we approach work, but also very complementary in that sense. Dave has amazing knowledge and I read people better, so we work well together. My passion is destinations, Dave’s is hotels.
We still have friends who book, but we have grown as a business and acquired new customers and bookings tend to be more corporate clients and people we have gained from referrals
We focus on long-haul tailormade and luxury holidays and we are a really good team. We still have friends who book, but we have grown as a business and acquired new customers and bookings tend to be more corporate clients and people we have gained from referrals. Our booking values average £10,000 to £30,000. It can be difficult and we have arguments about some things, but the client ends up with a better experience at the end of it!
We get on better now there is no shop; we wanted to handle that in different ways. When it’s just the two of us there is nothing to argue about. But our families do get bored of us talking shop when we are all on holiday together!