Aspen Travel owner ready to sell up after more than 30 years

Clancy said Aspen Travel had been one of the first UK-based companies to launch an online travel agency, with most of its initial bookings coming from outside the UK – particularly the US.

“We had some media coverage at the time, including local BBC radio, when they were saying that Virgin Atlantic and Aspen Travel were the only two UK travel companies working online,” he explained.

"We later moved into escorted tours and river cruises, as I thought it was really interesting niche product. It was a great blend with online enquiries coming in and then taking the phone calls in the shop.

“About 30% of our business comes through the door and overall, they are bigger, quality bookings – not bucket and spade holidays. We have been selling stuff that people can’t do themselves.”

Profitable business

Clancy, who has worked in travel for 40 years and enjoyed spells earlier in his career with Aer Lingus and TWA, revealed he had decided not to expand the business to additional branches because he “couldn’t stand the idea of driving around” between them.

He added: “Before my 70th birthday, I hadn’t considered retiring at all, but then I suddenly thought – should I be doing this any more? I would like to spend time with my grandkids and travelling, enjoying life.”

Clancy added Aspen Travel has managed to stay profitable throughout its more than 30 years of trading, with an average annual profit of around £250,000, barring those years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.