Top 50 - Central England - Market Place Travel, Burton-on-Trent

This travel agency has come a long way since managing directors Mark Lomas and Karen Brown set up the business in 2018 with just two desks in a tiny store.

The pair now have a team of six consultants – who have almost 100 years’ experience between them – and Market Place Travel’s home is in a large, characterful store with a high ceiling, chic white furniture and splashes of the agency’s trademark turquoise including a huge, inviting sofa. 

Customer convenience is key, so the store will open in the evenings and even on Sundays during very busy periods, and the team is set-up to work from home and respond to enquiries out of hours. 

Always thinking up new ways to look after and impress clients, the agency has this year launched a new gift voucher service and created a Market Place Travel-branded candle with a coconuty beach scent that is gifted to higher-spending clients, but also sold in-store with 20% of proceeds going to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. 

Its location on a busy market square has given the agency a high profile in the town, but social media has also been very successful in gaining new customers, particularly a “screenshot and save” offer that invites consumers to screenshot offers they see online and challenge Market Place Travel to beat the price. The agency now has more than 24,000 Facebook followers, all gained organically. 

A forthcoming focus on luxury holidays will see the launch of a new brand, and the conversion of an under-used space upstairs into a stylish lounge for clients looking to book in privacy. 

And Market Place Travel has also stepped up its commitment to sustainability, partnering with Just One Tree to plant a tree for every booking, and encouraging clients to travel responsibly by sharing travel tips on their email signatures. 

And with sales in 2022 a spectacular 700% up compared to 2019, the sky is the limit for this creative and dynamic agency. 

marketplacetravel.co.uk