Four trainees from the Designer Travel Training Academy have become fully fledged agents this month after together generating £1.17m in sales for the firm in the last year.

The four joined the travel agency’s academy, now in its third year, from other sectors. Michelle Brice previously worked as a solicitor; Aimee Thornton used to work in motor trade sales; Michelle Gessey had a job in worldwide event management; and Philippa Myers is a former teacher.

Each has made sales worth on average more than £294,000 while learning how to do the job of an agent during the 12-month course and setting up their own homeworking businesses.

The training includes attending industry events and Designer Travel social gatherings, e-learning, one-to-one mentorship from their own training manager, and joining the academy’s own conference to get an experience of an agent educational.

Since April last year the academy has stepped up its intake by taking on one trainee per month. Previously trainee agents were taken on an ad hoc basis. The four latest trainees joined in April, May, June and July 2023.

Academy manager Abi Hyslop said: “These four consecutive trainees have done exceptionally well, from having no customer base and little industry knowledge.

“They were all really serious about changing their careers and have put so much hard work into it. They had to dedicate time to their learning and build up their businesses from scratch. It’s been fabulous to see them all grow in confidence and knowledge.”

She added: “I am so excited to see and share the next part of the journey with the wider team. We have always focused on making sure we select the right candidates for the academy and these results provide proof that for us as a business quality over quantity is the right way to go.”

Gessey said Designer Travel’s training programme had helped her to establish her own travel agency business at her “own pace”.

“The academy has provided me with the most invaluable support and incredible mentorship, and has not only contributed to my business growth but also boosted my supplier knowledge and personal confidence,” she added.

The agency said it was considering future opportunities to help trainees further with different types of learning requirements, and has plans for more e-learning opportunities, practical help developing a business plan and a hands-on approach to enhancing product knowledge in the first year.