Your Stories: Nicky Lewis reflects on her 23-year career in travel

The Travel By Nicky homeworker, Nicky Lewis, talks to Juliet Dennis about managing former Travel Weekly columnist Maureen Hill.

Q. When did you become a travel agent?
A. Nobody seems to realise I’ve been in travel for 23 years. Sometimes people presume I’m in travel because of my husband [Mark Harris, head of trade sales at Exsus Travel] but I started my career when I left college in 2000, aged 17. I spent a few months working for Thomas Cook – they gave me my first break.

I opened up and managed a call centre for Bath Travel in 2011, which was a very different experience

Q. You cut your teeth at Bath Travel. What was it like?
A. Bath Travel is where I found my feet. It was a traditional travel agency and I loved chatting to the customers about their holidays. I started at a branch in Broadstone, Poole, and worked my way up from trainee to manager. I worked for different managers and picked up skills from each. I opened up and managed a call centre for Bath Travel in 2011, which was a very different experience. We were told our branch was closing and we had to move to the call centre and work different hours. It took a while to get used to not seeing clients, but it gave me an insight into selling on the phone. Then I went back to working in a branch again. I was at the company for 17 years and had my two children while I worked there. Luke is now 15 and Lilly is 14.

[Hays Travel] introduced their selling and administration system, but the Bath Travel name was kept for a year

Q. Tell us about the sale of Bath Travel to Hays Travel in 2013
A. I was manager of the Poole branch when Hays took over. It was huge news. The area managers had been in to make sure all the files were up to date, so I knew something was going on. My branch was filled with staff who had been with Bath Travel for 30 years or so. No one thought we were going to be sold. Hays didn’t make too many changes initially. They introduced their selling and administration system, but the Bath Travel name was kept for a year. After a year, things began to change: the technology, the systems, apprentices. Some of the staff didn’t want to be part of Hays; they stayed on for six months and then started to leave. I was there until 2017. I learned a new way of working. It gave me new management skills and made me stronger as a manager.

I walked into the branch and there was Maureen. I knew who she was from reading her column in Travel Weekly over the years, so I was a bit “oh wow” when I met her

Q. You became manager of former Travel Weekly columnist Maureen Hill. What was that like?
A. I moved from Hays to Spear Travels’ Sturminster Newton branch [previously Blackmole Vale Travel] in 2017. I walked into the branch and there was Maureen. I knew who she was from reading her column in Travel Weekly over the years, so I was a bit “oh wow” when I met her. It wasn’t easy managing Maureen though – you had to win her trust. Maureen stayed because she had clients; she was one of the most senior agents. She was such a character. She worked three days a week and was always well-presented. We had a lovely relationship. The Agent Achievement Awards was one of her favourite evenings of the year – she used to get all dressed up for it.

It was so lovely working with her, so when she died, it hit everyone in the shop hard. Lots of flowers were delivered, which we put in the window

Q. How did you cope when Maureen died?
A. I started in January and by March or April, she was poorly. It was so lovely working with her, so when she died, it hit everyone in the shop hard. Lots of flowers were delivered to the shop, which we put in the window. We had clients and reps who would not come in because they were so upset about Maureen. I picked up tips from working with her. She always said “don’t let clients say they don’t like your quote”. She had a black book with all her clients’ details in it. She never left it in the office, even if she popped out to the post office. I’ve not seen that book since.

If you have to speak to the head of trade and he happens to be your husband, that is funny – having a meeting with my husband

Q. What’s it like having your husband also working in the trade?
A. Sometimes I have to speak to Mark with my ‘agent head’ on. It can get a little bit heated, but we do have a laugh about it. If you have to speak to the head of trade and he happens to be your husband, that is funny – having a meeting with my husband. But it does work and he can ask my opinion about things, as an agent.

You became a homeworker as the pandemic hit. How was that?

Prior to Off Broadway Travel, I joined The Travel Directors – part of Aquilium Travel Group – in early 2020. The pandemic was hard. I got a part-time job at Tesco Express. I did the early shift, then got home by 11am to help home-school the kids. My travel business trickled along – a few glamping bookings in the UK and some forward honeymoon bookings. I kept active on social media and sent ‘hope you are OK’ cards to clients. I didn’t pressure them and they all came back.

I specialise in honeymoons and destination weddings. Now I’m starting to do their family holidays too. Last year I introduced a wedding gift fund. It isn’t a massive money maker but it makes a couple’s trip more memorable. I left The Travel Directors as I was getting busier on projects with my second job: looking after camping/glamping in the southwest and Wales for the National Trust’s outdoors holiday team. I joined Off Broadway Travel in June. I tend to do high-end bookings and get a good few each month.