Future plans are no flight of fancy, Teesdale Mercury

Future plans are no flight of fancy

Mar 25, 2008

WHETHER it's a four-week holiday in Brazil you fancy, or a weekend in London, two young women from Barnard Castle can help you realise your dreams.

Natalie Carter Sedgewick and Sarah Oates, have set up as freelance travel consultants, trading as Future Travel.

Both women were made redundant when the Co-op Travelcare branch in Barnard Castle closed last December.

Rather than look for new jobs with another travel agency, these two energetic and enthusiastic young women, decided to go it alone as personal travel advisers.

Natalie, who is 26, had been with Travelcare since she finished her A levels. She completed a Modern Apprenticeship with the company achieving National Vocational Qualifications(NVQs), at levels two and three, in Travel and Tourism. When she left Travelcare, Natalie was branch manager.

Sarah Oates, 20, had been with Travelcare since she left school. Although she had no plan to join the travel industry, Sarah saw a job with Travelcare advertised and thought it sounded interesting. And so it proved.

Like Natalie, Sarah loved the job and both women were successful travel consultants. They prided themselves on their wide knowledge of the industry and good customer relations.

Natalie and Sarah say that their success in working for a high street agency was down to knowing their customers, and getting to understand their needs by talking to them. They believe they can do the same over the phone.

"People like to see a local face, someone who they can trust. Over the phone we can build up the same trust with our customers and get the best deals we can for them."

More important than that, their wide experience of the travel market and dedication helps customers to get the best holidays and the best deals.

Natalie and Sarah realise that working from home and dealing with customers over the phone will be different to working in a high street shop. However, they say that this will benefit the customers. Sarah said: "Customers don't really need to spend time waiting in a busy high street travel agency, making endless phone calls or searching the internet."

Natalie added: "Because we offer a totally personal service, we will do the hard work, saving people time and money and tailoring their travel requirements to suit them."

Natalie Carter Sedgewick and Sarah Oates

Natalie and Sarah say that they have access to the same holidays, flights and hotels that they did with Travelcare. In fact, they say that they can probably offer a more tailored travel planning service than larger agencies. 

As personal travel advisers, Natalie and Sarah carry out what they call ‘dynamic packaging.' By talking to customers they can tailor trips to the customer's specific needs by booking hotels and flights to suit, plus any additional extras such as airport parking or car hire.

And because they run their own business, Natalie and Sarah can decide what to discount but can still offer the same special offers as an agency. Which they believe makes it good for them and good for their customers.

And, unlike a lot of high street travel agencies, Natalie and Sarah are ‘open-all-hours' - nearly. Their customers can contact them from eight in the morning to 10pm at night.

Self-employment is a challenge to both women. Rather than being worried about running their own businesses, both women are excited by the venture and believe they have the knowledge and energy to succeed. 

They acknowledge the excellent training they received from their previous employers and they are both good organisers, as you would expect from travel advisers.

Future Travel is made up of dozens of freelance advisers. It is backed by The Co-operative Travel, the UK's largest independently owned travel agency, so customers can sleep easy in their beach hammocks.

THE contact details for Future Travel are 01833 638746 and 01833 695442 natalie.carter-sedgewick@tarsc.net sarah.oats@tarsc.net

First published in the Mercury, March 19, 2008