Your Stories: Acomb Travel’s Eric Walton on changes and challenges during 46 years’ trading

The York agency owner looks back at his career since opening in 1977 aged 21. He talks to Juliet Dennis.

Q. Tell us about the agency’s launch.
A. I opened up the shop in 1977 at the age of 21 on behalf of a York businessman. He left it all up to me. I’d worked at a couple of agencies in Leeds, but it was my first time as a manager so it was quite a big step up. We were open for eight weeks before we got our Abta licence, which limited what we could do in the way of bookings initially. Once we got our licence we were flying. We’ve been going 46 years – now we’ll aim for 50!

The business was only two years old when we got our Iata licence and that gave us the opportunity to do business travel

Q. What were the big sellers in the early days?
A. Yugoslavia was very big, and of course we did our fair share of the Mediterranean, especially Spain. You got the odd long-haul booking, but nothing like today. The tour operators we sold included Thomson and Cosmos. It was all packages and very little in the way of tailor-made holidays. We did a lot of UK coach holidays as well as Haven Holidays and Butlin’s. The business was only two years old when we got our Iata licence and that gave us the opportunity to do business travel. We did quite a lot of that over the next 10 years. When Ryanair first started, we could issue our own airline tickets and we did dozens of seats to Dublin. Once Ryanair established its own website, it dropped agents; yet we were the ones who helped to get it off the ground.

We’re part of The Advantage Travel Partnership; one of its oldest members. We’ve been with them for 40-odd years

Q. Why did the agency start to sell more tailor‑made holidays?
A. Once the internet came along in the 1990s and people could book their own flights, it changed things dramatically. Our business house section fell away. We decided to specialise in tailor-made holidays and it’s something we’ve done ever since. We lost customers who were looking for a £99 holiday as they went to search for it themselves. It gave us the chance to diversify. We still do our share of packages. We’re part of The Advantage Travel Partnership; one of its oldest members. We’ve been with them for 40-odd years and they play a part in our success. They negotiate better commission rates and are always there if we have problems.

Q. How did you become agency owner?
A. I took over in 1991. The owner asked if I wanted to buy it. He gave me one year’s notice and first refusal so I could get myself financially prepared. I was saving like mad thinking it would cost a fortune, but in the end I paid him a consultancy fee for five years and got it for a snip! But then I was the business; I’d been building it up for over 14 years. Once I got the business I began to make changes. The former owner did not spend a penny on advertising. I thought ‘let’s see how far we can go’ with advertising. I must have increased turnover by about 50% within two years. It was only local advertising because we had such a nice, residential catchment area. I didn’t need to spend a fortune.

The former owner did not spend a penny on advertising. I thought ‘let’s see how far we can go’ with advertising

Q. What challenges has the agency faced?
A. I remember the 2008 financial crash well. The former owner still lived in York and the day it all blew up he said: “Eric, if you survive the next two years, you’ll have done bloody well.” But Covid has been worse; none of us saw that coming. Thank goodness we had savings. It has cost a hell of a lot to keep the business going. Because it is such a good business, I didn’t want to let it go. Nobody knew how long it would go on. I thought a year at most. We had staff on furlough and only working a certain amount of hours. It was hand to mouth. I valued my staff – Avril, who’s been with me 37 years, Suzie, Mel and Darcy – and I topped up their salaries when they were furloughed so they didn’t lose any money.

There have been independents who have asked if I am interested in taking on another shop. I said no – one is enough!

Q. Did you ever want to expand beyond one shop?
A. We’d been open about 10 years when another independent agency opened and then the Co-op opened, so at one point there were three of us all fighting for local business. They both closed and it went back to just us again. There have been independents who have asked if I am interested in taking on another shop. I said no – one is enough! One shop is very manageable.

How involved are you now in day-to-day operations?

I retired six years ago and have taken more of a back seat in the business. I still go in every three or four weeks if anyone wants to see me or wants a fly-drive around the US, Australia or New Zealand. I’ll carry on as long as I can. I have a lady who has been booking with me since 1977. She’s in her late 70s now.

It’s been a real bonus to enjoy myself [in semi-retirement] knowing the agency is in capable hands. We have three full-time members of staff and one part-time employee as well as my [business] partner [and wife] Sam, who does the marketing, and myself. Sam came into the business in 1995. She does the book work and also belongs to different networking groups.

In 2019, I did an Everest Base Camp trek with G Adventures; it was just something I wanted to do. What an amazing experience! When I think back, I think ‘did I really do that?’ Since then I’ve been getting the word out. I’ve done about five talks to consumers about the trip. I’m 67 now but I’d like to do more trips like that.