The new Personal Travel Experts brand has been created to support the group's growing network of self-employed travel professionals, building on a homeworking model that has operated under the Sunlounger Travel name for the past four years.

Kirkbright said the launch follows several years of refining their proposition. "We've been running a team of self-employed agents for the last four years," he explained. "We've spent that time picking up on the anomalies, refining the operations and making sure everything runs smoothly and efficiently.

"We've got the software in place that we designed and built ourselves, and it was finding the right person to push it forward. It was just the right time to give it its own brand and properly promote it."

'Setting a recruitment target is a mistake'

The business has recruited Louise Rothwell to lead the new division as Head of Business, who brings more than 10 years' experience as a homeworker.

She most recently spent two-and-a-half years as Business Development Manager for Personal Travel Consultants in partnership with Blue Bay Travel, where she helped independent agents establish and grow their businesses.

"We decided it was time to go out and find the right person to push this side of the business forward – someone with the experience and the knowledge," Kirkbright added.

Rather than setting ambitious recruitment targets, Kirkbright said the group's focus is on attracting the right people. "We don't have a recruitment ambition," he insisted.

"I think that's one of the mistakes some companies make – setting a target. We don't want Louise chasing a number just to satisfy a number. We'd rather have fewer people, but quality people."

'We don't want our homeworkers to be numbers on a spreadsheet'

Prospective members will be assessed on their long-term ambitions, he continued. "It's coming down to these conversations at the start; deciding what their aspirations are, whether they want to set up and run a real business, or whether they're simply looking to book their own holidays."

Personal Travel Experts offers members access to more than 300 supplier partners, proprietary technology developed by Sunlounger Travel Group, commercial agreements and business support. Kirkbright said the company's ambition is to build its reputation through service.

"We don't want people to be numbers on a spreadsheet and just judged on the revenue they've done," he said. "We want to have that personal relationship with them so that we know everybody.

"We want to be one of the companies that people want to work with, because we have a reputation of providing a good service to our people, paying them properly, on time, without issues, and being flexible."