Olive Lounge Travel to expand to second premises and host first conference

Co-owner Gillian Polyhos told TTG the business had just taken on another member of staff for the new shop, where she and business partner Jo Edwards also plan to create an opportunity for a younger person "keen to get into travel".

The team will be joined by Betty and James from series four of Race Across the World for the official opening of the Bingley store on Saturday (2 November).

Polyhos said after the difficult decision to close the Barrowford shop, the time was right to expand the agency’s footprint for a second time. "We didn’t want to rush into it – we had to concentrate on getting Crosshills back to where it was [after Covid]," she explained.

Bingley, she continued, used to have several travel agencies – including a branch of Going Places where she once worked – but these had all since closed a good 10 to 15 years ago.

"It’s an area we have looked at over the years," said Polyhos. "The town has really regenerated itself. The demographic is quite different – it’s a town rather than a small village so the catchment is quite a bit wider than we have here [Crosshills]. We actually already have some clients at Crosshills from Bingley.

"We’re redeploying one member of the team to the Bingley branch, which will have four desks. Hopefully they will all be filled."

On Olive Lounge’s homeworking business, Polyhos said this had been "slowly nurtured" over the past nearly two years, with consultants working on a commission-only basis.

"There’s been huge growth in agencies taking on homeworkers," said Polyhos. "It’s a great industry to be in, and a lot of people want to be part of it. We do training with them every Monday – we don’t just take people on and leave them to get on with it. We really support them."

Another major development for the business is its plans for its first in-house conference, which will be held in Marrakech and is being supported by Moroccan’s tourism authorities in the UK.

Polyhos said the initiative had grown out of the agency’s Christmas team trips to the likes of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, and a trip she put on for a member of staff earlier this year to Agadir.

"It will be an opportunity learn and prepare for the post-Christmas peak booking period," she added. "Morocco is up and coming, and it’s an area a lot of the team haven’t been to. With Jet2holidays starting up there with new routes, it was the right fit for for us."