Go Furness

Passion, Knowledge and Value

Nick has a background in management and marketing, having worked in large organisations in the South of England. Nick is passionate about business, applying his knowledge and experience and doing a first class job. You don’t have to spend long with him to realise that he is a dynamic, charismatic and very inspiring manager and entrepreneur.

As a child, he visited his grandfather in the Lake District during his holidays and was determined to move up here with his own family. So it is no surprise that he was enticed to take on the challenge of re-branding Gatestravel or that Mike Gates chose him for this job.

Gatestravel has an interesting history and is a real tribute to how businesses can succeed through any economic climate if the right decisions are made and the captain steers the ship in the right direction. Each generation of Gates Travel has been aware of the context in which the business has been operating and made really wise choices accordingly. So in 1933, in the Golden Age of Train Travel, the Gates Family acquired a license and started selling rail tickets at their tobacconists shop in Kendal. In 1948, when the war was over, Labour was in and the nation was starting to travel again, rail nationalisation was a golden opportunity for the business. Now AG Gates Ltd could sell rail travel over the whole of the UK rail network and sell ferry and hotel bookings. The company went from strength to strength.

This reminded me of the story of Shell Oil. This company started in London by Marcus Samuel who sold oriental shells in a market stall in London. He sent his enterprising son to faraway shores to bring back shells, but he soon started returning with oil and of course the rest is history. The point is, the most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who are more interested in seizing opportunities as they present than persisting with what has always been done.

Another turning point in the Gatestravel business came in 1983 when they decided to give up the tobacconist business altogether and just sell travel. By 1998 the business had 11 staff working in the two outlets in Kendal and Ambleside. And now in 2008, Nick has taken on the role of managing director, is steering his team of 26 and has opened the doors of a shiny new shop in Ulverston, the third independent branch.

It is interesting that they have not only met their targets for this year, but improved on last year’s targets. I have met with a number of businesses in the travel industry who are seriously worried about surviving the internet competition, so why is Nick so successful, enthusiastic and choosing to expand when others are cutting down?

It is because he is applying his tried and tested management and marketing skills with the 3 things that he really believes in to Gatestravel. These are:

Passion. He is passionate about the business. This is so evident when speaking with him. Even though he has never worked in the travel industry before, he has worked in consultancy and is no stranger to team-building and driving businesses forward. He is passionate about involving his team in the clear, long-term plans of the business. Equally, he encourages his staff to consult with their customers and be really passionate about meeting and exceeding their expectations. He encourages them to share the company vision, he has plenty of team meetings and he clearly values and invests in the people who work in the business.

Knowledge. He knows that his customers want much more than they can find on the internet. He knows that people will only use Gatestravel if they can find better value, better quality and the best deal possible anywhere. Therefore, his staff need to have excellent working knowledge of the travel industry. Nick invests heavily sending his very happy team on working holidays to bring this knowledge back to the business. This year, they have been to Egypt, Mauritius, Florida, Peru, Turkey and on cruises. I wonder if I could convince Furness Enterprise to send me somewhere like that on a knowledge quest! Indeed the Gatestravel staff are very well travelled and can therefore advise from first hand experience. Gatestravel agents are trained to consult, to listen and to really meet their client’s needs.

Value. This is more important than ever when it is possible for most people to book holidays online. In this day and age, holidays are perhaps more important than ever for people living in such fast-paced, stressful times. But Gatestravel can create bespoke packages, known as dynamic travelling packages that rival the high street travel agents and even online bookings. They will guarantee the best value even with rail travel.

Emma Jones, in her book ‘Spare Room Start Up’ advises us to pay attention to ‘the success triangle’. She says we need to put equal amounts of energy into the admin, sales and customer care in our businesses.

Nick has ensured this by re-structuring his management team and placing them in a purpose-built location where they hold the overview of the business and steer the 250 account customers and the rest of the business forward. The management team hold a common vision, are determined and committed to the vision whilst remaining realistic and flexible. He is smart enough to know that this is essential for the success of long term plans.

Nick says that the business has two strands, the business clients and the leisure clients. The leisure clients include weddings, ski holidays, activity breaks, sun holidays and honeymoons. This is sound business sense because the success of the business is spread out and does not just rely on one type of customer.

Ulverston is so lucky to have this new resource and I am sure that Gatestravel will soon attract business customers in the area as well as people who want the best value for money on leisure holidays and breaks. I hope that we will also be able to take advantage of Nick’s considerable knowledge and passion for all things entrepreneurial in the area in the various business forums and future masterclasses. I have certainly benefited from listening to what he had to say.

Posted by Kay Hebbourn on 9th July.