Travel reward card specialist and agency Inspire is looking to recruit up to 20 homeworkers to work on a new luxury brand, Hidden Retreats.
Co-managing director Keith Herman launched the brand 12 years ago, sold it, and recently bought it back again.
The company currently operates The Inspire Travel Card, a physical card or e-voucher preloaded with credit that can be spent on travel or holidays through Inspire’s travel agency call centre.
The cards are used by businesses as part of their employee benefit schemes or can be purchased by customers direct.
Inspire currently looks after the travel elements for international firms’ loyalty programmes, including Mastercard, and employee benefits’ schemes such as Grass Roots, Sodexa and Red Letter Days. It also sells travel cards in retailers including Clintons and Morrisons.
Hidden Retreats will be modelled on the Inspire Travel Card but will focus on luxury holidays from the likes of Simply Luxury, Pure Luxury, If Only and Kuoni, and initially be available for businesses to buy for their staff.
The homeworkers will book holidays for employees when they want to redeem their gift card.
“Businesses will be able to give gift-boxed Hidden Retreats cards to staff. The cards will be loaded with several thousands of pounds to spend with our dedicated reservations team of homeworkers, who will have a range of amazing luxury holidays to send them on,” Herman said.
Once his homeworkers are in place, Herman expects them to also sell Hidden Retreats holidays direct to their clients from their own client databases.
“We don’t have to sell many. If we sell 2,000 cards, each with £3,000 loaded on to them, that will be a great start,” he added.
The Inspire agency, which is a member of The Travel Network Group, employs about 80 staff at its head office in Cheshire.
Herman set up the business with co-managing director Peter Pantelides. Both started out as Youth Training Scheme travel agents.