The rise and rise of Meon Valley Travel

Who wants to be a millionaire? Pretty well everyone, but staff working for Meon Valley Travel can achieve the next best thing by joining its Millionaires’ Club and being whisked off to New York at Christmas to pick up a diamond from Tiffany’s.

It looks like a typical upmarket travel agency from the outside, being situated in the prosperous Hampshire market town of Petersfield. But inside, beyond the brochure racks, is a diverse operation recently named one of the “1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain” by the London Stock Exchange.

This is a listing of the fastest growing SMEs in all sectors, Meon being one of only a handful of travel companies so recognised. It is doubling turnover and staff numbers every three years and has achieved this during the recession, with turnover now approaching £40 million.

Managing director James Beagrie has an impressive track record, setting up the Suretravel travel insurance brand at the age of 23 and increasing staff numbers from eight to 240 in 14 years before selling to insurance giant Aon.

Suretravel continues under the ownership of Citybond, and he still attends the annual staff lunch.

Meon had five staff when he acquired it from First Choice in 2002, with Tui UK continuing to operate the Meon Villas brand. Meon Valley Travel now employs nearly 100 people, including 40 at its Quorn Business Travel (QBT) subsidiary in Leicester, plus 16 homeworkers.

The core of the business is the repatriations department, handling travel for insurance companies worldwide to bring sick and injured people home, sometimes with medical escorts. Customers also include people who have to return home in an emergency, as part of their insurance cover.

“I fell in love with a girl at the travel agency where I booked my holidays. How cheesy is that?”

Meon boss James Beagrie

Also in Petersfield are a 24-hour help desk providing an out-of-hours service for nearly 50 travel management companies; an out-of-hours help desk working to rebook airline passengers who have bought missed departure cover; and a thriving leisure department providing travel services to organisations such as the Professional Footballers Association.

“Although I worked for Aon after selling Suretravel, I was a misfit as I’m not a corporate man,” says Beagrie. “So I jumped the corporate ship, rattled around for a year, and fell in love with a girl at the travel agency where I booked my holidays - Meon. How cheesy is that?”

This was Karen Barnes. She is now general manager, and better known as Karen Beagrie - the two tied the knot last month.

They regard Meon as one big family and put personal service first, which is absolutely essential when handling difficult and tragic situations. Growth accelerated when more insurance companies started entrusting their travel arrangements to Meon, and after QBT was acquired in 2009.

Finding the right staff has been a challenge, but Meon takes on trainees as well as recruiting from inside and outside the travel industry, including former cabin crew and airport check-in staff. As a member of Advantage Focus Partnership, it has been able to tap into training schemes and expertise.

“We incentivise and reward people according to performance, and we measure and monitor everything,” says Beagrie. “I am looking for bright, enterprising, ambitious, flexible people - good communicators who are prepared to graft. And if they hit certain targets, not only do we reward them with a diamond but we’ll take them to Tiffany’s in New York to collect it.”

Staff join the Millionaires’ Club when they hit £1 million in turnover, and are on the plane to New York if they also hit £100,000 in revenue for Meon. Four staff members made the trip last December, and nine could go this year.

“Everyone needs a reason to get up in the morning,” says Beagrie. “Every time we answer the phone, we could help save a life. In business travel we save people money, and in leisure travel we sell dreams. It’s a lot less boring

than working in insurance.”