Two franchised business owners have come together to create the UK’s first combined travel and estate agency branch in a unique high street venture.

Chris Hollins and Anya McCormack invited the local community in the coastal Scottish town of Kirkcaldy to a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official opening on August 27 at 93 St Clair Street (pictured).

The branch operates as a dual site with McCormack heading up the travel side of the business and Hollins the property one. Hollins became a franchisee of The Good Estate Agent six years ago and was among the first to join The Good Travel Agent when it launched two years later.

Hollins told Travel Weekly: “I think we were the second to have a franchise with The Good Travel Agent, and now we’re the first to have a shop, so it’s a great feeling.

For us, it’s not about the money, but about getting the brand out there.”

“For us, it’s not about the money, but about getting the brand out there and having people know us and come in the door, delivering personal service and getting first customers to become repeat customers.”

The unusual combination means customers can potentially buy a house and book a holiday at the same time.

More personal

Hollins says: “We’re trying to get away from the standard high street store, for example, by putting my Lego around the shop, number plates of where we’ve been, and other things like that to make it more personal.”

The Good Travel Agent co-founder and chief executive, Jake Cullum-Hollins, says: “This was not on the roadmap just yet, but one of our franchise owners came to us with such a good plan with a fantastic location, that we had to give it a go.”

“This has now given us the backbone to offer a full retail franchise as well as a homeworking franchise.”