Four friends who have known each other since school have set up a homeworking agency with the Travel Trust Association, part of The Travel Network Group.
Henry Rush, Harvey Nye, Harry Beare and Sam Old attended Rainham Mark Grammar School in Rainham, Kent, and have been on several holidays together.
They live close to each other and all work in finance, with Rush and Old moving into accountancy apprenticeships after school. Rush then joined Which? as a management accountant while Old moved to recruitment and explored southeast Asia during a sabbatical.
Nye works as a senior finance assistant and Beare entered the world of print.
“We had done well at school and in our professional life, and always spoke about starting our own company, but we never really made the jump,” said Rush.
“After New Year 2023-24, we were complaining about the weather in England. We decided to bite the bullet and be proactive with our aspirations.”
Old suggested ‘Tripl Travel’, which the others loved, agreeing it was “catchy and rolled off the tongue nicely”.
They decided to join the Travel Trust Association after an extensive research process.
“We knew that we needed a travel partner…and a ‘badge of trust’ to give the consumer the confidence to book through us,” said Rush.
“We discovered TTA during our research and right from the first phone call we could tell how amazing they are.
“They have already given us lots of advice and explained the challenges of navigating the tricky travel world but also gave us a sense of safety and relief.
“We are using one of their partners to help build us a website, which we hope will be live in April.
“The amount of marketing materials included in the TTA membership is amazing, from leaflet door-drops to window-sized posters.
“You are assigned a dedicated services manager to assist you and ours, Jess Munday, has been great, sharing her experiences and pointing us in the right direction.”
They have set up on Instagram and Facebook, and will be exploring the merits of TikTok.
“We don’t want to focus solely on social media and will be delivering leaflets to local businesses and dropping marketing material through doors to ensure we reach all potential customers,” added Rush.
“We’ve begun telling every man and his dog about Tripl in the hope that they remember the name and consider us for their next trip.”
The four friends, aged 24 and 25, have travelled extensively and plan to sell a wide range of holidays, “from an all-inclusive in Marmaris to a cruise across the Caribbean”.
Their early enquiries have been for short-haul destinations such as Ibiza and Alicante, with one enquiry being for up to 45 people travelling to Benidorm on a stag do.
“We want people to know the name and the logo…and immediately think of their next beer in the sun, cruise across the ocean, or safari in Africa,” added Rush.
“We need to ensure our service is second to none, while keeping prices competitive.”
They are still working full-time in their non-travel jobs but hope to change this soon when one or more can be supported working for Tripl full-time.
Rush said working with friends is “a dream come true”, adding: “If anything, we have been brought closer together.
“As we’ve known each other since such a young age, we know what makes each other tick, and know how to support one another most effectively.
“We are very happy to connect and learn from anyone in the industry, and will endeavour to attend any and all networking opportunities presented to us.”
Pictured with their TTA membership certificate are, from left: Sam Old, Henry Rush, Harvey Nye and Harry Beare