Co-operative Travel Gloucester

The county town superstore received a total revamp in 2015, helping to match the great customer service with equally impressive surrounds. “We treat every customer as famous,” explains store manager Jose Da Silva Teixeira.

From the moment clients walk through the door of this agency their needs are tended to: a dedicated customer service desk ensures that every enquiry is seen to promptly and by the right person, and an appointments system allows time-poor clients instant access to a friendly consultant.

And the service doesn’t stop once clients have returned from their holiday. A welcome home phone call not only ensures that the holiday has met expectations, but clients’ feedback is held in high esteem and is used by agents as future reference for other customers booking a holiday to the same destination.

The agency is firmly ensconced in the local community. A special display at the back of the store takes customers collections for local charities. And store manager Da Silva Teixeira regularly gives speeches about what it’s like to work in travel and what the industry trends are at senior schools and councils in the locality. The work of local public sector employees is also honoured with special deals available when they book their holidays through the agency.

The Co-operative Travel Gloucester endeavours to go above and beyond the call of duty for all of its clients, whether that’s working past closing time to help a recently bereaved customer reorganise their flights home and even booking them a taxi from the airport, to helping a customer coordinate a secret wedding anniversary surprise in Mauritius.

As Da Silva Teixeira so aptly puts it: “A happy customer is the best advertising you can ask for.”

• cooptravel.co.uk/Branches/Gloucester