Total Travel owner Katie Butler told TTG she chose Brighouse as the agency’s third location due to its bustling high street. Total also has branches in nearby Heckmondwike and Ossett.
“I went shopping one day in Brighouse with my husband and we were surprised by how busy and nice the town was,” she said. “So we looked into potential premises, found the perfect one and then really went for it.”
The move follows Total’s expansion to Ossett in September 2023, which Butler said she was busy running along with the agency’s first store in Heckmondwike, which she opened some 10 years ago.
"It wasn’t on the agenda," she said of Brighouse. "It wasn’t planned."
Butler and the team held an official opening on Saturday (25 May) with deputy mayor of Calderdale, Diana Tremayne, on hand to lead the celebrations and cut the ribbon.
"We wanted to attract attention from the main street,” said Butler, who revealed the agency enjoyed a strong opening Saturday, taking 10 bookings, with more enquiries coming through every day.
"What has really surprised me is that the phone is ringing all the time with enquiries, it’s fantastic,” she said.
Butler added that despite travel’s well-documented recruitment challenges, she hadn’t struggled to staff the third store. "Staffing was my biggest concern, but we’ve got people in relatively easily,” she said.
“We’ve got a manager then three other team members – two with many years of experience selling travel, and one girl who used to work in a bank but has travelled all over.”
Butler has worked in travel since she left school. She set up Total in 2013 in Heckmondwike after the agency, a former Travelcare and Co-operative Travel, was taken over by Thomas Cook and promptly shuttered.
The agency lists dozens of supplier partners on its Facebook page, including Jet2holidays, easyJet holidays, Tui, Riviera Travel and Olympic Holidays, as well as several cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, P&O Cruises and MSC Cruises.
