The team player growing Blue Bay Travel's homeworking division
Abigail HealyHumble yet ambitious, Blue Bay Travel’s Abbie Heaton tells the story of how she went from Thomas Cook apprentice to heading up a successful homeworking division with a community feel
“Imposter syndrome is something that never really goes away but I think it keeps you humble.” Abbie Heaton, group manager – personal travel consultants, at Blue Bay Travel, takes a pragmatic view of one of the most challenging aspects of filling a big role at a young age.
Inspired by a work experience stint in Thomas Cook’s Congleton branch, Heaton was taken on as an apprentice with Thomas Cook Maccelsfield when she left school and developed a love for helping plan people’s holidays.
Moving to Blue Bay Travel three years later she says it took some adjusting to work in a call centre as it was harder to gauge the customer’s reaction over the phone, but she quickly developed a different view of the industry working for an independent business and progressed to team leader three years later.
In September 2020 Blue Bay began to make post-Covid expansion plans, part of which was to grow its homeworking division. The business needed someone to manage this and a role was advertised in March 2021.
“It was an account manager/homeworking manager role and it was very appealing in the wider industry. It was advertised externally as well and I never thought I would be the one to get it,” Heaton explains.
But get it she did and with the role came plenty of challenges. “There is a lot of competition in the homeworking industry. It feels that it’s become a very popular area since the Covid pandemic and it is all about how you make it different and what your USPs are. Not all homeworking agencies are right for every homeworker, “ Heaton says.
Setting up a homeworking operation that offered 50% commission upfront, spent money on making good leads available and offered homeworkers access to the exclusive deals that Blue Bay directly contracts was a recipe for success.
Heaton now works closely with the company’s chief executive, manages the end-to-end operation including website creation and management, budgets, KPI monitoring, branding, recruitment and marketing, resource, infrastructure, processes and payroll. No mean feat for a 28-year-old.
As the business has become more established, growing to 55 homeworkers, Heaton’s challenge is to ensure that she and her two business development executives remain approachable and that the division retains its community feel.
“The constant niggle in my head as we grow is making sure we maintain that. We have to be doing it for the right reasons,” she asserts.
Reaping the rewards
With a careful eye on the nuances her role requires, Heaton is effusive about the rewards it brings. “Seeing the homeworkers do well and helping them with challenging enquiries and getting them over the line is so fulfilling,” she beams. “As is seeing the new-to-homeworking agents really fly. It’s all about the people.”
Looking ahead, Heaton says she aims to triple the homeworking division’s size and empower the newly-hired business development executives to progress into management positions. Long term she is keen to stay in a role that keeps her close to the sale and working with people, though further down the line she would relish the opportunity to join industry boards such as the Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE).
It might seem odd then that someone with so much success and ambition brings up imposter syndrome but Heaton sees it as a positive.
“I chatted to Travel Counsellors’ Steve Byrne about it at the recent 30 Under 30 meet up and he says he gets it too. I don’t think it ever goes away. It’s a constant process. Experience, personal growth and presence in your role all help reduce it but it’s important – your role isn’t anything until you fulfil it.”
Meet the 30 Under 30 cohort from 2024/25
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Abigail Healy
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