The Low Cost Travel Group helps organise hundreds of holidays every day. And its team has the experience to handle the occasional travel glitches that can arise. But when Eyjafjallajokull first erupted, no one was prepared for its impact.

The dust from the Icelandic volcano clogged up travel arrangements around the world, creating unprecedented problems for the travel industry. The Low Cost Travel Group swung into action quickly, however, as Chief Operating Officer, Lawrence Hunt, explains: “Within half an hour of the crisis, we had managed to organise 12 coaches and we also obtained Eurotunnel bookings very quickly.

“All in all, it took us only three or four hours to be able to make alternative arrangements for our customers.”

The volcano continues to erupt on an ongoing basis, but the Low Cost Travel Group is ably going with the flow, as Hunt observes: “We are coping well with unforeseen challenges which is the mark of any good business.”

THE LOW COST TRAVEL JOURNEY BEGINS
The Low Cost Travel Group is a young company, established in 2004. While some start ups take a few years to get their business off the ground, The Low Cost Travel Group was ready to move fast.

It quickly began building a portfolio of brands and making acquisitions. In 2006, the Group bought Century Travel, a call centre with around a dozen staff. A few years later, it went shopping again and bought transfer business ResortHoppa.com, which operates at 450 airports around the world.

The Group now has six thriving businesses: Low Cost Holidays, Low Cost Beds, Low Cost Taxis, Low Cost Cruising, Low Cost Travel Extras and Resorthoppa.
And it is performing well. Turnover was an impressive £100 million last year and set to reach new heights, according to Hunt: “We are estimating turnover of £200 million in the year ahead,” he says.

It’s a far cry from the company’s beginnings. “We started up the Low Cost Travel Group in a barn at the home of our Chief Executive, Paul Evans,” recalls Hunt. “We’ve now got a head office in East Grinstead and also have an office in Alicante, Spain, which has 20 staff, dealing with scheduling and overseas transfers. It accounts for around 30 percent of our business.”

THE LOW COST TRAVEL GROUP TAKES FLIGHT
Successful companies need a strong senior management team and Hunt’s entrepreneurial background means he has a wealth of relevant experience: “I’ve been involved in seven start up companies,” he recalls: “The first one was a technology business, when I was only 20 years old. I’ve since started up another three technology businesses and three in the travel industry.”

And he points to technology as one of the Low Cost Travel Group’s main competitive advantages: “One of our strengths is that we have very sophisticated technology, which we believe is the most advanced within the travel industry,” says Hunt. “We stumbled across our technology supplier, Intuitive Ltd,” he adds. But the importance of their contribution was recognised very quickly: “They’re a small company which we have invested in and helped grow. They’re almost like part of our business now.”

HIGH STANDARDS
Quality is high on the agenda and The Low Cost Travel Group takes a hands-on approach. “We don’t have any of the ‘badges’ like ISO, but we are always looking to improve standards of quality in every area that we operate in,” says Hunt. “We monitor absolutely everything every day.”

And the proof of this attention to detail is tangible. “I get 16 reports in my in tray every day,” he confirms.

But Hunt already knows if there are any problems before he reads the reports. “The quality of our technology helps me identify any issues straightaway. For instance I can check how many customer service calls we are getting at any given time, on my Blackberry, so I get advance warning of any trends we might need to address.”

It’s not just technology that stands out as one of the major factors in the company’s growth. Hunt believes that the recession has been one of the main drivers in generating high levels of demand: “The economic downturn has helped us grow,” he confirms. “It used to be the case that people bragged about how much they spent on their holiday - nowadays it’s about how much they saved. This suits our business model.”

And it’s a straightforward model, built on price, technology and tailoring the offering to customers’ individual requirements. “Our customers can put their own package holidays together, through our travel company, Low Cost Holidays,” Hunt says. “It’s around 20-30 percent cheaper for them to book their package holidays through us.”

THE FUTURE
The Group also takes a straightforward view of its own corporate journey. “We don’t have a vision or mission statement,” Hunt says. “We don’t believe in all that strategic stuff. We just want to grow and be big.”

The Group is well on its way to significant growth, with 197 employees across its businesses and further recruitment is planned. It is also successfully keeping the team members already in place. “We are fortunate to have a high staff retention rate,” Hunt adds. “Staff turnover is less than one percent and we are very pleased with that.”

He believes that the buzz of working for a growing company motivates the team and creates loyalty. “People stay because this is an exciting place to work. There is never a dull moment.”

There are some big projects in the pipeline, too. “We have rolled our transfer business out into Germany, France, and Spain and have just launched our online holiday business in Germany. We are planning to roll that business out into Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and Scandinavia within the next two years.

“The way we look at it, there are huge opportunities in the holiday market. There are around 44 million holidays sold in the UK every year, so we are only just scratching the surface at the moment.

But Low Cost Travel is already anticipating major milestones. “We expect to sell a million holidays this year,” Hunt concludes.

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