Operators and agents named Britain’s fastest growing businesses
Operators and agents have been named as British companies with the highest sales growth.
Spabreaks.com, which offers a booking service for 550 spa hotels in Britain and 100 in Europe, was ranked second in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100, with a staggering 198.31% sales increase.
Travel agency Barrhead Travel came 54th with a 69.72% sales growth. The company founded by Bill Munro employs more than 600 people and runs 12 websites.
Your Golf Travel founded in 2005 by Ross Marshall and Andrew Harding saw a 67.95% sales growth coming 59th in the league table. The duo also co-founded Spabreaks.com.
UK holiday park operator Away Resorts came 81st with a sales growth of 57.44% and tour operator Tropical Sky which sells long-haul holidays, mainly to the Caribbean, came 88th with a 53.69% growth.
Away Resorts was set up by managing director Carl Castledine, finance director Neill Ryder and operations director Greg Lashley in 2008, when they purchased Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park on the Isle of Wight.
It also bought Tattershall Lakes Country Park in Lincolnshire in November 2009 and more recently Mill Rythe Holiday Village on Hayling Island in September 2010 – all needing a serious amount of work and modernisation.
The company tries to recreate the best of the family holidays of yester-year, while bringing them up to date with modern twists, like ‘glamping’ accommodation options, festival elements, outdoor cinema screenings, and leisure complexes.
Castledine said: "It is a great achievement for us to make it on to the list of the fastest-growing private companies in Britain for 2012. We are not a high-tech company, and we are not operating in a new trendy space, industry-wise.
"We are a good old-fashioned UK holiday company, offering a product as old as the hills, but doing it well, with personality, and putting quality and customer service at the top of our list of priorities."
Sharon Munro, chief executive of Barrhead Travel, said: "While the recession has created many challenges for the travel industry, we have strived to extend and adapt our product, offering to meet the changing demands of customers.
"However, it is our unwavering commitment to customer service and investment in staff that have enabled our continued success and growth.
"The one benefit of the economic climate is the fact that people are once again recognising the benefits of booking their holidays through an established travel agent, both in terms of giving best value for money and providing security should anything happen."
Diane
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