A couple who joined the travel industry as homeworkers during the pandemic are now opening their first shop.
James and Natasha Oliphant, of Wokingham, Berkshire, launched Not Just Travel with James and Natasha in July 2020.
But on June 1 they will be opening a store at Longacres Garden Centre in Bagshot, Surrey.
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“It’s scary and exciting, but it’s a natural step,” said Natasha, adding: “We’d like to double our turnover within 12 months.”
The husband-and-wife team, who will change their Abta licence but continue trading under the same name, now consider themselves as cruise specialists.
Three years ago, however, Natasha was working four days a week as a personal assistant with the NHS while James was employed in IT, with neither having experience of the travel sector.
James said: “We sat down in lockdown and I wanted to set up a new business for us and be our own boss. I presented the idea to my wife and she thought I was absolutely nuts with there being no planes in the sky.”
Yet the pair took the plunge after speaking to Not Just Travel co-founder Paul Harrison, who outlined his optimism about the industry post-lockdown.
And success quickly came the Oliphants’ way, with Natasha securing a £10,000 booking to the Maldives on her first day out of training.
Their average booking is around £5,500 – £6,000, James said, with cruises making up half of sales.
However, when they open their shop at one of Britain’s largest garden centres, they hope their business will grow further.
The omens were promising when Natasha arranged for a one-day test-run at the site last summer and ended up with a revenue total of £50,000 – £60,000.
Natasha said: “The foot traffic was phenomenal and we had enough bookings that it paid for our whole marketing campaign for this year, which led us to think, ‘Wouldn’t it be a fantastic place to set up permanently’?”
The couple have secured a second-hand cabin and agreed a three-year lease with an 18-month break clause.
“We want it to be different from walking into somewhere like Tui,” said Natasha. “We want it to be a place where people come in and have a coffee. We want to go down the luxury market and we’ve chosen a garden centre that’s in an affluent area and we want to meet those customers’ expectations.”
Natasha will stay in her job with the NHS, but James is now working in travel full-time.
Depending on how trade goes, the Oliphants will consider opening a second premises and might hire staff.
James said the past couple of weeks have been “surreal”, adding: “It feels like someone is going to wake me up from this dream.”