“A win, win, win”: TTAND forms equity partnership with UK-based Travel Counsellors

The Travel Agent Next Door (TTAND) has entered into an equity partnership with UK-based Travel Counsellors effective today (Dec. 2).

Vitruvian-backed Travel Counsellors is “one of the UK’s largest and fast-growing technology platform for travel entrepreneurs,” said TTAND in a press release issued Tuesday.

The company connects more than 2,200 independent business owners, "enabling them to deliver exceptional levels of customer service." 

“I have always looked at Travel Counsellors as a leader when it comes to travel professionals who run their businesses from home or office spaces, and I am very excited to be partnering with them for two very important reasons,” said Flemming Friisdahl, TTAND’s founder and CEO, in a statement. “Number one is the culture.  It aligns very much with the TTAND culture, given it is all about our support team and our agent partners. The second reason is their commitment to being innovative and bringing the coolest and most effective technology tools to their partners.”

Friisdahl said the two companies have a very similar culture and the same values.

“I’m confident this will be great for our agent partners and for our suppliers,” he added.

A "win, win, win for all concerned" 

Travel Counsellors operates across six countries – the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates – and employs more than 400 people in its UK headquarters and overseas offices.

“One of the many benefits to TTAND from the partnership will be that TTAND colleagues will have access to new expertise, shared learning, and, over time, the benefits of Travel Counsellors’ proprietary technology platform, Phenix — bringing future-ready tools that will help the TTAND team and agent partners grow with confidence and, with our supplier partners, offer unique itineraries in Canada,” stated Friisdahl.

In Canada, the company will continue to operate independently with Friisdahl, who is now an equity partner in the new partnership. 

The TTAND executive team of Jeff Element, COO; Chris Senior, CFO; Raj Gautam, CIO; Rhonda Stanley, VP talent development; Christine Ufniak, director of marketing; and Nicola Gowe, director of finance, will remain in place.

Friisdahl said that for The Travel Agent Next Door, the new venture will be a win for both TTAND and Travel Counsellors and that he is excited to bring Travel Counsellors tools to support TTAND agents’ customers in Canada.

It's “truly a win, win, win for all concerned," Friisdahl said. 

In a statement, Steve Byrne, CEO of Travel Counsellors, noted that the partnership is “built on shared values, mutual respect, and a belief that great things happen when good people work together.”

“It’s an exciting next step in our international growth story, but most importantly, it’s about people — growing together, with care at the heart of everything we do,” said Byrne.

Friisdahl noted that there will be no changes for TTAND’s employees in Canada and India, nor for its agent partners and suppliers. 

This is a developing story.

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