A retired cruise line boss has joined a high street travel agency to boost bookings from local community groups.
Stuart McQuaker, who set up former cruise line Tradewind Voyages and was previously chief operating officer for Saga Shipping, is working part-time as self-employed projects manager for Travel Stop’s Hadleigh branch.
McQuaker, who lives in the area, noticed the branch was not open daily and thought he might be able to put his community contacts to good use in the agency. The shop was only open one day a week due to lack of staff.
He said: “I had failed to get into the coffee shop opposite the agency because it was so busy and I noticed Travel Stop was closed. It seemed daft.
“I was in the cruise industry for a while and am retired now but I thought I could help out and open the office a couple of days a week and take some enquiries.”
After approaching owner Bridget Keevil, McQuaker is now working in the shop three days a week to help on enquiries, which he passes on to agency staff for formal quotes. He is also helping to drum up the agency’s groups business by organising tour operator presentations in the shop’s upstairs office. His earnings are dependant on bookings.
The first presentation will be by Kirker Holidays, with a representative giving a talk on the operator’s cultural arts programme to customers in the branch in January.
Keevil said the idea was to market to specific interest groups, with plans already under way for a bowls group holiday in the spring.
“Stuart will put together presentations and market them to specific people,” she said, adding: “We used to have someone who did that job, our homeworker Tracey Strand. She passed away in December last year and left a big hole in the company. It was fortuitous that Stuart came to see us.”