Wirral-based independent agency Global Travel has opened a second high street shop and rebranded to signify its expansion into the luxury cruise market.
Co-founder Sarah Meadowcroft opened her first agency in West Kirby in 2003 with her mum, Isobel, and has now expanded into the market town of Neston, less than 10 miles away.
The new branch is in a former coffee shop and has four new members of staff, Antonia Willman-Dougan, Clare Buffel, Sinead Hilton and Jane Jones, who all have travel backgrounds.
The store was officially opened today (14 March) by Travel Gossip’s Managing Director Bruce Martin, who is acting as a mentor to Sarah, through the Women in Travel CIC Male Allyship mentoring programme.
Sarah said: “After moving into our first shop in 2003 we just grew and grew and garnered quite a niche in the high-end luxury and tailor-made market. This carried on until the pandemic, which threw everything upside down. It coincided with mum having a stroke and cancer, so she had to leave the business immediately. Another member of staff had a little girl, and it left just me and one other member of staff, and I thought: ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’
“But it gave me a kick to look at what we had and where our opportunities to grow could be. I think there is a real gap in the luxury retail market.
“At the moment we cover West Wirral, but we don’t get clients coming in from the Cheshire area, so to go into Neston, which borders Cheshire, will help us hit a different market.”
Global Travel, part of Hays Travel Independence Group, has rebranded to Global Travel & Cruise to encompass Sarah’s experience in expedition cruising.
She describes attending a Latin Routes and Polar Routes training academy in Lima, Peru, last year as a ‘life-changing’ experience. Then she joined the Expedition Cruise Network (ECN) and won the ECN award for Best Individual Newcomer to Expedition Cruise.
In March 2026, Sarah plans to lead 16 clients in the Arctic with Polar Routes.
She said: “Since my trip to Lima I’ve become totally obsessed with the Arctic and Antarctica. I recently visited Antarctica with HX Hurtigruten Expeditions and it was incredible. I think as a business we can do amazing with expedition cruising; it’s just getting it out there to our clients.”
Being part of the ECN also inspired Sarah to take part in the Women in Travel CIC mentoring programme, where she was matched up with Bruce.
“ECN CEO Akvile Marozaite took me under her wing. She said she had done the mentorship programme previously and recommended I do it.
“I am privileged to have Bruce as my mentor. We work extremely well together, with him coaching me in areas where I lack expertise, particularly digital marketing. In turn, I am helping Bruce to understand the emerging and exciting expedition cruise sector. It was a natural progression to ask Bruce to open our new store.”
Bruce said: “It’s an honour to be opening Sarah’s second shop and celebrating this fantastic milestone with her. Mentoring her on her journey as a female entrepreneur in travel is something I’m really looking forward to. I look forward to supporting her growth, sharing my experiences, and learning from her along the way.
“This will be my second experience as a mentor within the Male Allyship Network by Women in Travel CIC, which is a fantastic initiative and well worth looking into.”
Main photo: Bruce, Sarah and the team.
