Fledgling travel business given wings by start-up support package
TWO enterprising women from Stoke-on-Trent have turned redundancy into an opportunity by pumping their payouts into a new travel business.
After working together for many years, Jill Kilgariff and Dawn Gamble decided that when they were both made redundant, the time was right to strike out together and set up their own business.
TravelAdmin4U works with independent travel agents throughout the country and provides back office administration support such as distributing booking confirmations, producing travel documents and issuing of tickets to holidaymakers looking to jet off to the sun.
The duo initially sought help from North Stafford Chamber of Commerce, which in turn introduced them to the Ready for Business Programme.
Ready for Business is the start-up programme delivered by the Cavendish Consortium and its partner, the National Enterprise Network. The organisations’ aim in the West Midlands is to create more than 1,300 new jobs.
The programme is funded by the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills via the Regional Growth Fund and in association with Barclays. It delivers intensive start-up training and support for new and developing businesses across the UK – with a particular focus on helping start-ups access private business finance.
Ms Kilgariff said: “We felt that we have a strong commercial idea as there is nobody else offering this type of service and that coupled with our many years of experience in the travel industry led us to believe that now was the perfect time for us to set up our business. As we started to look into what we needed to have in place, we realised that it was important to speak to someone who could point us in the right direction and make sure that we left no stone unturned.”
Ms Gamble added that as well as help with preparing a business plan, the duo also received advice on how to secure business finance, suggestions on how to market the business, tax issues and which accountants to use.
Pete Ball, business advisor at NSCCI said: “TravelAdmin4U is a prime example of exactly the type of new venture that Ready for Business is designed to support. Setting up your own business demands commitment and dedication from the outset and through the help and advice that Ready for Business can offer, it permits individuals to access the type of intensive, one-on-one guidance needed in the early stages.
“It also focuses a person’s attention on the long-term objectives of their idea to ensure there is sustainability, growth potential and the opportunity to create new employment opportunities in the future and help prepare and support them as they face the challenges that running your own business can bring.”
