Homeworking agency We Do Travel to open first shop

Scotland-based homeworking agency We Do Travel is preparing to open its first shop and also plans to introduce a franchise model.

 

Eilidh and David McKerry, who set up the business in 2017 via Explorer Travel, are expecting to start trading from premises on Dumbarton’s high street in December.

 

The couple, whose agency will become a member of the Hays Travel Independence Group in its own right, intend to offer opportunities to self-employed agents in the future.

 

The self-employed agents will be invited to work from the shop on a part-time basis in addition to their home-based work, David said, with the approach described as a “hybrid” model.

 

“I’ve never seen it done before,” he said. “It’s something we’re looking at doing once we’ve become more established [on the high street], recruiting local people to come and support the brand.”

 

The husband and wife team, who live in Balloch, at the foot of Loch Lomond, had been considering opening a shop for some time but had been waiting for the “right opportunity”.

 

The chosen premises will operate as a shared space, with We Do Travel based in the front and other businesspeople working in the rear.

 

“It’s low risk and low rent,” said David, who noted that he and Eilidh were attracted to Dumbarton for two main reasons – it is only a few miles from their home and the town has been without a travel agency since Tui withdrew during the pandemic.

 

“You’ve got a high street that is going through redevelopment, so we thought we should get involved early in that process,” he said.

 

He added: “We’re moving into the high street to see if it suits us and to see if we suit the high street.”

 

He and Eilidh “don’t have massive growth plans”, he said, but they anticipate the need to recruit administrative staff.

 

“We’re not out to conquer the world or make millions or be the next miniple,” he said. “We love what we do and we just want to do it on the high street and have people come in and talk to us.”

 

The new shop will be open on weekdays and will mainly operate an appointment-based model.

 

David said last month was the second strongest in the agency’s history, behind January, with multigenerational trips proving particularly popular.

 

“We’ve had more group bookings in the last six weeks than in the last two to three years,” he said.

 

Last week, David was named touring and adventure consultant of the year at the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association’s fourth annual Sparkle Awards.