Mascots at the grand opening of Althams’ Harrogate branch
Althams Travel is recruiting for a new branch in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, following the opening of another shop, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
The chain will have 33 branches when Wetherby opens in June – up from 31 last summer when Althams revealed plans to expand.
The Harrogate shop opened in the Victoria Shopping Centre just after Christmas 2023, with the spa town having been on Althams’ wish list “for some time”, according to managing director, Sandra McAllister.
More: Althams Travel reveals plans for significant expansion [July 23]
Althams hails success of four-day week move [Dec 22]
“For the first three months of this year, Harrogate has sat mid-table within the network for new bookings, which is excellent for a branch in a brand-new location with no existing customer base,” she said.
It has five staff – two were existing Althams staff plus three recruits.
McAllister is now seeking five staff for the Wetherby branch. She said the company’s four-day-week policy was “definitely” an attraction for candidates.
Marie Leach, sales development manager, said the chain has a “strategic plan” to promote the opening of every new branch and establish a presence locally.
A TV personality is invited to “grand openings”, during which there is a live radio broadcast from the branch. Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle in Emmerdale, attended the Harrogate opening.
McAllister said sales across the chain had been “extremely buoyant”.
“In January and February, we saw new sales revenues up 14% and 8% year on year respectively,” she said.
“March slowed down a little but we were still up by 4%.
“We are very happy with those results as 2023 previously was our record year. April has been a little up and down but currently level with last year.
“Through my time at Althams, I have always seen that holidays are the very last thing that customers will give up – it’s what keeps them going.
“We are seeing some very lucrative high-value bookings, more so than in a normal year. Cruises, in particular, are doing extremely well.”
Althams’ expansion has included the establishment of a homeworking division, led by senior manager Nicky Lynn. The department has seven staff in Yorkshire and Lancashire, with plans to expand.
“Our sale [phone] lines and website feed them various different leads, but their social media pages have really taken off,” said Lynn.