London based agency Privé Luxury Travel celebrated its first anniversary with a star-studded bash.

The agency, set up by former Sky Sports journalist Dougie Keen, marked a year in business by hosting its top clients at Mr Foggs Apothecary last month, with the likes of singer Ronan Keating, former footballer Jamie Redknapp and sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher in attendance. The party was held in partnership with Atlantis The Royal, Dubai. 

Keen set up his agency after establishing a successful sports management company eight years ago. In recent years he also established a consultancy business working with brands such as Jockey Club, 888, Adidas and Talksport.

Keen said the business had “started like a dream”, with international billionaires and celebrities such as actress Lily James and Atlantic rower Julia Strachan on his client list.

Reflecting on setting up his business, Keen said: “I’ve been lucky to have travelled a lot and friends and business contacts would ask me for recommendations. I did a lot of thinking during the lockdown, which I know was hard and tricky for so many people, but actually it was one of the best periods of my life. I found a lot of peace and knuckled down to put in place a very detailed business plan to set up my travel business.”

The agency, which is affiliated with Colletts, has three members of staff currently – Alex, Josephine and Emma.

To date the highlight spend per booking for Privé Luxury Travel was a Chinese billionaire who spent £500,000 on a villa in Norway. Keen said average bookings were around the £25,000 mark.

Keen cited Atlantis Dubai’s sales boss Kim Ip as the person who gave him the push to set up a travel business.

“I met with Kim and she really encouraged me to do because she believed I had a strong network and database from the get go. She really gave me the push to do it and I can’t thank her enough for that.”

When asked about his strategy to grow the business and acquire clients, Keen said: “We don’t pay to market ourselves; everything has come through word of mouth. I feel grateful that people are choosing to spend what they spend with us and for us to organise their holidays.”

He added: “We’re big on the little touches and we offer a very bespoke service with personalised letters to clients and lots of little elements which are so important.

“I can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve with the business. It’s an exciting time and we have so much in store.”