Background
Holiday Lounge is a privately owned travel agent with three branches and 15 staff. The company started trading on June 17th, 2004, with just three team members, when they were a member of another consortium. Their original consortium was bought out by a larger company, after which their terms changed dramatically and to the detriment of Holiday Lounge Ltd. Holiday Lounge looked for alternatives and joined Co-op Travel Consortium in October 2013, after weighing up a range of options.
Co-op Travel Consortium offered Holiday Lounge the best terms, ABTA bonding, and the simplest transition.
The Results
Since joining Co-op Travel Consortium in October 2013, Holiday Lounge’s revenue has grown from around £4m to £7.5m in 2017. Director Paul Moss said: “Co-op Travel Consortium has given us the tools to move forward in the way that we want to move forward.”
According to Paul, keeping the company ABTA-bonded was extremely important, as it reassures their customer base that they are safe to book with Holiday Lounge.
If Holiday Lounge was not a Co-op Travel Consortium member, Paul knows that they would need to employ 3 extra staff members to contend with day-to-day accounting. He also compliments Co-op Travel Consortium's commercial terms, calls the team approachable, and recommends the consortium to his peers. One of these recommendations has become a successful referral.
Holiday Lounge has become so successful – particularly their Hinckley branch – that they are continuing to expand and are currently looking for the right location for their 4th branch. Midcounties is helping them find the right site.
