by Catherine Woods - Wednesday, 20th February 2008 -

Exemplary customer service and a thorough knowledge of the world's hottest tourist destinations have contributed to Audley Travel's speedy sales growth, says founder Craig Burkinshaw.

“We don’t treat customers as one-offs,” says Burkinshaw. “We know what we’re talking about and we insist our people know what they’re talking about. As part of the training, we send them abroad and pay for it.”

Customers are obviously impressed; Burkinshaw says Audley Travel has "very high retention rates". It also attracts a lot of new business through word of mouth.

It’s important to get ahead any way you can in the cut-throat travel industry. Burkinshaw says he and his business partner didn’t realise how tight the margins would be when they started the company in 1996. “The average travel company is profitable at 1.3 per cent and it’s getting worse,” Burkinshaw reveals.

Still, Audley Travel is now a £36.3m-turnover business that employs 200 people.

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