Advantage Travel Partnership saw a £550 million increase in turnover in its last financial year, during which it added more than 50 new branches.
CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said said the increase in branches, to a total of around 750, was due to new members joining and existing members opening more outlets, which she said was in part due to lower interest rates giving them more confidence to expand.
“We are also seeing more members taking on homeworkers and creating their own homeworker networks,” said Marketing Director David Forder.
While the consortium isn’t due to reveal its 2024 financial results for another couple of weeks, Julia said turnover was around £17 billion, of which £8.8 billion was generated in the UK, 70% from corporate travel.
“Over the next two to three years we are going to get to £20 billion, that is going to happen,” she added. “We could quite easily get there in two years.”
Julia said growth will come from both new and existing members, but she said she had no target for the overall number of members.
She added: “We are thrilled with the remarkable expansion of our UK network during the last financial year. At our Cancun conference last year, we announced a £100 million increase in UK turnover for the prior financial year. This year’s result is five times that figure – an extraordinary achievement that not only demonstrates the travel sector’s resilience and strength but also highlights our members’ unwavering confidence in the future of our industry.”
She said 22% of new members had joined as part of its Managed Services, under which Advantage handles all back-office functions and payment processing. Some 52% had bricks-and-mortar shops, 29% were home-based, and 19% were working from office spaces rather than retail outlets.
David said he believes the Advantage rebrand, unveiled at its conference in Malta this week, will be ‘a powerful catalyst’ for recruiting further new members.
“Our refreshed identity not only showcases our evolution as an organisation but also reflects the premium value we deliver to our partners,” he said. “By updating our brand language and visual identity, we’re sending a clear message about our forward-thinking approach.”
