Travel Consultant Rachael Coyne has won the Great British Franchisee Award for her extraordinary business performance while battling cancer.
Despite suffering from the gruelling effects of undergoing chemotherapy three times a week, Rachael continued to book travellers their dream holidays. She took £400,000 worth of business in the first six weeks of 2022 alone.
The award, presented by whichfranchise.com, is considered one of the highest honours in the franchising world. It recognises Rachael’s incredible commitment in the face of adversity to both her customers and her business.
She set up her business through The Travel Franchise alongside her husband Colman. The couple began by running international trips for a social club before turning professional nine years ago. Since then, they’ve developed their franchise into a business with a multi-million-pound turnover.
Unusually in the travel world, Rachael and Colman offer 24/7 customer service, giving their customers their personal mobile numbers and even calling them back on a Sunday night if they have a query.
Co-founder Paul Harrison is full of admiration for the couple, saying:
“They are a walking, talking example of resilience and success.”
Cancer apart, their resilience was put to the test during the pandemic, not least when a £125,000 business trip to South Africa had to be postponed three times.
Rachael says:
“We worked tirelessly during Covid to fight for refunds and never stopped fighting for our customers. For us, this award is fantastic recognition for how we have worked incredibly hard over the past two, most difficult years.
Rachael also added that they could not have succeeded without the support of The Travel Franchise.
“However, we want to pass the credit on to The Travel Franchise. Our success shows that their product offer and business model works. There’s no way we could have built our company from scratch if we hadn’t bought a franchise. We have grown our business on our terms, at our pace, and now have a brilliant lifestyle.”
