TTG Interview: Sharon Munro on keeping it in the family

For many people, joining the family business might seem like an easy option. But for the daughter of Barrhead Travel owner Bill Munro, it was perhaps the hardest career path she could have chosen.

Sharon Munro had her first taste of the travel industry at the age of 16, when, forced to start earning her own pocket money, she began to work a Saturday job in her father’s shops. “Even 23 years ago, it was fast paced and exciting,” she says.

“I finished school and thought about university, but I had really enjoyed what I was doing in the travel industry and so I decided to join the business.”

Her father, Bill Munro, however, ensured it was not an easy ride for her. “Working for my dad was not the easiest,” she admits. “He expected more from me than from anyone else.”

What that did mean though, was that Sharon Munro was moved around the company, enabling her to experience every area of the business; an education which proved invaluable when she eventually took over the helm of Barrhead in October 2007.

“I worked in every part, starting at the bottom making cups of tea; I had to earn my role.” She concedes that not all of her colleagues were welcoming, but by starting at the bottom and working her way up, she says she “won them round”.

“I worked my way up to sales consultant and then moved across to IT and then marketing. It all put me in good stead for when I took over as managing director. It was difficult at first, but I proved that I didn’t expect to be manager straight away”.

It was during her time moving around the business that Munro developed an interest in the internet, with Barrhead one of the first travel companies to capitalise on the medium which she noticed was starting to attract increasing interest from consumers.

The company built its own dynamic packaging website in 1999, and although Munro concedes “it didn’t pan out how we wanted it to”, the experience proved that Barrhead had recognised the growing importance of the web.

It was an awareness which has since led to 40% of Barrhead’s sales now being taken from outside of Scotland, as a result of its numerous websites - a figure which is noteworthy, given that 37 Barrhead’s 43 stores are based north of the border.

Despite the company’s strength in the online space, Munro is adamant the high street remains equally important to the brand - a point which she highlights by the fact that since joining the company in 1990, she has seen the number of employees grow from just 30 to 700.

Staying relevant

“Of course it depends on the holiday that you’re booking, but people still often want to talk to someone and get reassurance,” she says. “Many customers start on the internet but finish with a call centre or in the shop. People want to make sure that they are getting the right holiday. They need advice on certain holidays like long-haul or cruise products.”

I meet Munro in the same week that three high street giants go under, and the day after the failure of Ambassador Travel. She concedes that 2013 is likely to result in more closures of travel agencies, but despite gloomy headlines predicting the decline of the high street, Munro insists there is room for everyone - if agents make sure that

their business models remain relevant.

“Some companies just haven’t changed their business models to move with the times, which is a real shame, because there are agents that just aren’t staying relevant. Some just specialise in one product, but we’ve always specialised in a number of areas, so that if one area is a bit quiet, we can look at promoting something else.”

She cites the recent failures of HMV, Blockbuster and Jessops as examples of “old fashioned businesses that hadn’t moved on to make themselves more relevant”.

Munro adds that on top of the pressures facing the high street, she believes the economy “will continue to be the biggest challenge of 2013”.

“Everything is going up but people’s salaries are not increasing. The Scottish economy is slightly worse than in England but holidays are the last things that people will give up.”

So how is Barrhead coping in a less than buoyant economy? “We’re constantly trying to look at how we can be relevant to our customers,” Munro explains.

“We’re not a typical travel agent, we’re a hybrid. We have our own tour operator and cruise business, and business travel arm. We have to be everywhere and have a changing model for what the customer wants.”

Grand designs

Munro says it is this understanding of the customer’s changing needs that has led to an adaptation of the stores and the altering of Barrhead’s shop designs.

“People don’t like coming in and sitting down and having the person next to them hearing what they are spending, so we thought about the layout to give customers space when they’re with an advisor.

“We have destination-themed stores as well, with the bow of a cruise ship in one for example. We want the holiday experience to start as soon as the customer walks through the door.”

If high street agents follow Barrhead’s example in keeping themselves “relevant”, Munro believes they will still be here in 20 years’ time. “Perhaps not in the same form,” she adds, “but they’ll be here.”