Co-founder Martyn Dean told TTG the "perfect opportunity" for expansion had been hard to come by. "We grabbed it with both hands," he said. "Finding the right place at the right price is gold dust."

The new shop, which opened on Friday (1 May) in the North Tyneside coastal town of Cullercoats, marks the latest step in a steady expansion strategy for the agency, which is a member of the Hays Travel Independence Group and began trading more than two decades ago.

Dean said the store would open its doors despite final finishing touches still under way at the back of the premises. "So long as it looks good at the front, that's what counts," he joked, adding he and his partners Jannine and Raj Aggarwal were taken by the shop, and the local area, almost immediately.

"It has such a lovely feel when the sun's out," Dean said. "The shop sits on a street with other local businesses, like a sewing shop and hairdressers, but no other travel agencies, which also excited us."

'We've made more money without social media'

Dean said the move followed a spike in demand for "human service" and coincided with the agency's deliberate shift away from online marketing.

Instead, Dean said the business has leaned increasingly on word-of-mouth and community engagement to drive bookings.

"We've done, at most, a little bit of Facebook in recent years," he said. "And we've actually made the most money we ever had from not paying out fortunes on advertising.

"For every customer I get, we seem to get two more who come in and book through that that initial referral, which works wonders for us."

(Credit: JLM Travel)

From Teletext to the high street

Originally launched as a Teletext sales operation, the agency embraced physical retail following the collapse of Thomas Cook, which once accounted for around 85% of its sales.

"That was a 'roll the dice' moment for us," Dean said. "We took an office in Gateshead, made it look like a shop, and built from there."

A second branch in Whickham, which opened in early 2024, delivered an "equally strong" performance, he said, prompting the search for a third site.

After months of scouting locations in nearby Tynemouth – where rents proved prohibitive – the team secured the Cullercoats unit.

"The war in Iran broke out a couple days after we signed the lease, if you can believe that," Dean revealed. However, he stressed he remained confident in the location's charms.

"It's got a strong footfall in an affluent area, with a really, tight-knit community that we're keen to get involved with," he added.

'It's about being part of the community'

Rather than relying on a traditional launch campaign, the agency is investing in hyper-local marketing. Plans include sponsoring a stall at Cullercoats' annual summer festival this June and hiring staff from the immediate area.

"It’s about being part of the community," Dean said. "People come in for a cup of coffee and a bit of a chat with the staff, and then they end up booking a holiday."

Dean will support the team of three in the new branch as they find their feet. The business now has 16 members of staff in total, as well as a network of 16 homeworkers.

The product mix is expected to mirror the "broader", more flexible approach of the Whickham branch, spanning everything from budget coach tours to high-end long-haul itineraries.

"At Whickham, we sell anything from £99 coach holidays to £18,000 Canada trips," Dean said. "We're aiming for that same mix here."

Retail still has a role

Dean described this year's business as "mixed", with sharp variations in day-to-day trading. "Some days we’ll do 15 bookings, the next day there'll only be one," he explained, although he revealed recent sales with Jet2 had "exceeded expectations" despite a softer overall market owing to the war in Iran.

For JLM Travel, further expansion remains on the table, albeit cautiously. "We don’t want to become huge and have to take our hands off the business," Dean added. "But if a good opportunity comes along, we’ll always consider it."