When Miles Morgan decided to quit his role as Thomson Holidays’ sales and marketing director to set up his own agency in 2006, he knew he was in for a tough ride.
Plenty of planning went into ensuring the 10 former Thomson stores he bought to launch Miles Morgan Travel would be a success. But Morgan was still taken aback by how hard the launch proved.
“My greatest single achievement was surviving those first two years,” Morgan tells TTG. “It was incredibly tough, not hitting your business plan by a barn door and losing lots of money.
“I came from a nice big salary and pension bonus. All of a sudden, you chuck that all in and you’re losing a mountain of your own cash. It’s a real shock to the system and probably the reason a lot of people don’t do it.”
He doesn’t lay blame with the industry’s vagaries though. “It’s part and parcel of starting a business," he says.
"It’s your name above the door, but no one’s ever heard of it – there were a million other household names, and the internet was growing like Billy-o. You have to spend a lot of time, money and effort building a brand that gives people reasons to book with you.”
That focus on brand is Morgan’s main piece of advice to his peers as he bows out nearly 20 years later after selling his business to Hays Travel.
“You need to be able to explain in a few sentences why your business should thrive and succeed,” he explains. “If you can’t answer that question, you aren’t going to succeed.”
After surviving the launch, Morgan was effective in growing his miniple, which has been a member of the Hays Travel Independence Group since 2006, expanding from 10 shops across South Wales and the South West to 19.
One of his biggest successes, drawing global attention, came when he created, packaged and sold two cruises in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking. “That wasn’t a mission of money,” he insists. “It was a mission of pride – and it worked out brilliantly.”
Hard work and experience meant that by 2020, when the pandemic struck, Miles Morgan Travel was well-placed to handle the global lockdown. “Covid was really tough, but perversely, I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Morgan reveals. “Because of the challenges it threw up, there was no way I was going to throw in the towel.”
He says the business has powered out of Covid “like a steam train”, adding that while he did consider committing to another five years growing it further, he decided at the end of 2023 to sell up and pursue different interests.
Having worked with Hays Travel boss Dame Irene Hays for so long, the sale for an undisclosed sum was quickly concluded. “The due diligence was incredibly easy because of the trust between us.”
Morgan believes Hays’ acquisition will be best for his team, whose jobs – along with the Miles Morgan brand – are guaranteed as part of the deal, and whom he says were the other key to his agency’s success.
