I’m about to tell you something nobody else knows… Miles Morgan Travel was very nearly called something else entirely,” the founder of the 15-agency chain admits with a grin. “It was going to be Morgan Cavendish, because I thought that sounded posh.
“In fact,” Miles Morgan laughs, “I was originally going to open a garden centre until some friends convinced me I should probably stick to what I knew.”
The agency chain was created in 2006, when Morgan, then Thomson’s sales and marketing director, bought 10 agencies from the travel giant as part of an exit deal, convinced customers should be able to get better service on the high street than was available.
The move was completely self-funded, and one which Morgan admits left him doubting himself on occasion in the early days.
“It was just when the internet was becoming a big thing,” he says. “People wondered if I had lost my marbles, as I seemed to be swimming against the tide.
“But I had a firm belief that retail would continue to do well as long as you were targeting the right customers – which for me was the retired and affluent market – and had knowledgeable travel professionals behind the desk.
“I still have that belief 10 years on and I will for the next 10 years. In 2007 and 2008, just after I started the business, we had one of the biggest financial crashes ever. We have been tested from day one, but we are still opening shops.
“You learn lessons and cut costs accordingly,” he adds. “You develop a sort of siege mentality.”
During the company’s history, Morgan has closed four shops of the original 10, but he has opened nine stores.
His newest shop – in Gloucester - opened in December, with another store on the cards for the first quarter of this year. Turnover has increased 500% in 10 years.
“We are very proud of that result,” Morgan says. “The financial crash was the hardest two years of my entire life. Starting a business was a lot harder than I ever expected it to be. I have doubted myself at times but you just have to dig in and have an inner belief.
“It is my business, which is lovely, but when you face challenges there isn’t someone else there to talk to.”
Morgan insists that the onset of the internet shopping age has improved his business more than it has challenged it.
“The high street used to be afraid of the web, believing it was taking their business. But I only see us growing with it.
“The killer combination is having both an online and a retail presence and doing them both really well – that’s hard to beat.”
