About us
Our story
From our roots in the North West of England, UK, to an international travel business with operations in Ireland for the past 17 years, our story is one of incredible growth and success. And we’d love you to be part of our next chapter.
From day one we’ve followed a pioneering model
We were founded in 1994 by David Speakman, who anticipated the shift towards travel professionals running their own leisure or corporate travel businesses from home.
His pioneering model meant franchisees could provide an unrivalled level of personal care and attention for their customers when creating bespoke travel experiences.
Our entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to offering a truly personalised travel service, underpinned by the values of trust and customer intimacy, remain as true today as they did back then. As we approach 2,000 colleagues in seven different countries, these principles continue to guide us to new heights.
Growing, year-on-year
1999
We welcome our 100th Travel Counsellor to the family
2003
We’re the very first travel company to win the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category
2004
We launch our own unique financial trust in the UK, to ensure our customers' money is 100% safe when booking with us, no matter what
2005
Our growth continues apace, as we launch Travel Counsellors in Ireland and the Netherlands
2006
Our bespoke-built, in-house booking platform, Phenix, is launched. It enables our people to create truly tailor-made travel itineraries.
2007
We welcome Travel Counsellors in South Africa
2008
Our 1,000th Travel Counsellor joins the company
2011
Travel Counsellors is named in The Telegraph 1,000 Britain’s Brightest Businesses
2012
Our global expansion continues, as we expand into the UAE, and again in 2013, when we open in Belgium
A new chapter
2014
With our 20th year celebrations comes a significant financial investment from private equity firm, Equistone Partners Europe.
2015
We move Travel Counsellors headquarters from its birthplace in Bolton to stunning new £2m premises at Trafford City in Manchester.
2016
As we continue to scale and grow, we recruit the 300th member of our global support team.
2017
The myTC app is launched. With a 4+ star rating on the Apple and Android store, over 15,000 users a year enjoy the paperless experience of having their travel documentation all in one app, and connecting to their Travel Counsellor at the tap of a button.
2018
Vitruvian Partners back our high-growth, tech-enabled platform, as our community numbers near 2,000 Travel Counsellors.
2019
We’re awarded ‘Best National Travel Retailer’ at the British Travel Awards, and will retain that title in 2020 too.
2020
We scoop the ‘Queen’s Award for Enterprise’ for the third time in the same year that our first corporate travel MD is appointed.
2022
We’re proud to be named ‘The Best Place to Work in Travel’ at the 2022 Travel Industry Awards by TTG, and climb the rankings in the Sunday Times PwC Top Track 250 for the sixth consecutive year.
Fast-forward to the present
We celebrated a record-breaking year in 2022, with sales topping the £800m mark. We also enjoyed the biggest sales month in our history in January 2023, with the value of bookings exceeding £114m.
We only back exceptional high-growth technology-enabled businesses with stable, proven leadership teams
