North Devon-based company holidaycottages.co.uk will be celebrating 25 years as a family run business. Not to let it pass without a bang, the company are celebrating one of the best years as a business since they began.
With a number of new developments to the website, including the addition of short breaks, new cottage search features and a new app following a large rebrand earlier in the year; as well as the team being finalists in three awards all within one week of each other at the end of this month and a record number of visitors to their website this year, 2014 was hugely successful and the company looks set to continue this success in 2015.
With over 100 people currently on the team and with new positions being announced each month for their offices and regional positions across the UK the company is continuing to expand to realise its ambition to be the largest holiday cottage letting agency in the UK. With over 80 members of the team based in North Devon and another office joining in the last 12 months in Scotland, this is set to be a record year for the company.
Back in 1989 the business was based in their old offices in Northam, and was managed by Peter and Sandra Morris with a total team of four, including themselves.
Back then the company was known as Farm and Cottage Holidays and promoted around 100 properties made up of cottages, B&Bs as well as half board accommodation. The area covered extended to Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.
Sons Simon and James both joined the company in 1994 and 1997 respectively and that is when they made the decision to concentrate on promoting self-catering holiday cottages. The journey the business has taken has been eventful; over the years they have seen organic expansion, firstly to the wider parts of the West Country including Dorset, The New Forest and The Cotswolds and then in early 2013 the decision was made to roll out the portfolio and their services further afield and now promote just over 2,000 properties across the UK.
Managing director, James Morris, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating 25 years as a family run business and proud to be based in North Devon.
“Even though we have grown as a business, we have remained focused on delivering a high standard of service for both our holidaymakers and owners.
“Each property we promote has a dedicated property manager that works closely with the owner to make sure we continue to maintain, and where possible increase our standards for each customer.
“Things have come a long way and from the early days and now features like Wi-Fi, SkyTV and even hot tubs at properties can be as standard. Customers are always looking for that bit extra on their holiday, but still want it to feel like a home from home if possible. Last year we were awarded the Feefo Gold Standard for Customer Service as over 99 per cent of our customers said they would recommend us.
“The last 18 months have seen us open new offices in Edinburgh and Norfolk and our dedicated teams in those areas are working closely with our owners to build long term relationships that will help grow a successful business for the future.
“It has been a pleasure to work with so many owners and customers over the last 25 years, because without them we would not have a business. We hope that we can continue to improve our service in the future and hope that we can welcome even more holidaymakers in the coming years.”
The date of the 25th anniversary is November 17, 2014.
To book a stay at any of the properties mentioned or for more information on other holiday cottage deals visitholidaycottages.co.uk or call 01237 426 256.
(from a press release)
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