Top 50 - Scotland - Murray Travel, Inverness

Entering Murray Travel Inverness, the city-centre travel agency opened by husband-and-wife team Scott and Sarah Murray eight years ago, is like checking into a luxury hotel. A concierge ushers arrivals to soft, velvety sofas and offers them locally sourced teas and coffees or a choice from a range of soft and alcoholic drinks from the bar and kitchen while they wait for their appointment.

This high level of care is delivered by a team of 12 with an impressive average of 30 years’ experience in the travel industry, and it’s consistent, from the moment a customer walks in the door to their return from holiday.

Examples of this attentive approach include sending out cards, bottles of bubbly and chocolates to thank customers for booking; doing hotel research for clients while on their own personal holidays; and even, for one customer, commissioning a personalised travel wallet and gifting him a bottle of wine from the year he was born for his 50th birthday. 

Helping the agency maintain excellent service is a brand-new custom-built technology system Scott is incredibly proud of.

Ever-focused on trying new things, Murray Travel recently devised its own travel magazine and delivered it to 100 clients along with a tea bag and chocolate treats to enjoy in their homes – customers loved it and many booked their next break as a result.

A chef by trade, Scott utilises his culinary talents alongside his brother’s skills as a mixologist to host in-store client events with destinations and cruise lines every quarter, and team get-togethers every Friday. 

The team aren’t just colleagues, but friends too, and so they look forward to annual educational retreats in the likes of Malta, Mauritius and Turkey. 

To support the latter after the devastating earthquake in February, Murray Travel collected 300kg of essential items such as clothes and personally delivered them to relief efforts in the country. Generous donations have also been made to local charities and sports teams over the past year. Last Christmas, the Murray Travel advent calendar gifted prizes and a £1,500 holiday voucher to 24 lucky, and incredibly satisfied, customers. 

murraytravel.co.uk