Arrive Relax Travel boss: 'We watched Escape to the Country to find new branch location'

Akister, who is currently working in the shop with her husband and another agent, believes the last time Harleston had a travel agency business was in 1990. 

“A customer, who has just left my shop and has given me the biggest enquiry for next April, said she didn’t want to book online anymore,” Akister continued.

“I believe the closest travel agency to here is Framlingham Travel in Suffolk, so we’re supporting the local area.” 

Akister spent “a four-figure” sum on refurbishing the 17th century property which is opposite The Cap pub in The Thoroughfare. 

Asked if she plans to recruit more staff to join her team which includes three homeworkers, Akister said: “Before we recruit more staff, we just want to see how we go with the overheads. 

“I would love to have another agent here. I’m just being cautious – every business is talking about how much they have to pay now.” 

She admitted her husband may have to make a booking if the team is stretched over the festive period. “Max has not made a booking yet but he has taken some enquiries,” she added. 

Arrive Relax Travel’s first booking as a bricks-and-mortar agency was an easyJet holidays one from Southend. “Our first booking was an easyJet holidays one which is funny because we’ve just moved from Southend,” Akister explained. 

“Our closest airport is Norwich. The customer wanted to travel over specific dates so we had to fly them from easyJet’s new base in Southend.” 

Akister said the agency had received “all sorts” enquiries including – multi-centre trips to Thailand and Philippines, three-week cruises and battle field tours – since opening on 12 December. 

“It’s mad at the moment,” she said. “We decided to soft launch in the weeks before Christmas because some suppliers still had us listed as a homeworking agency. 

“It has not stopped since we opened. It’s been amazing – we’ve not done a huge amount of marketing.” Akister confirmed her and her husband have already identified the location for their second shop. 

“We’ve already found somewhere for shop number two, but I’m not going to tell you,” she said. “The town was on our list when we found Harleston. It’s not far from here.”