Inside Trailfinders’ award-winning approach to developing their employees
Trailfinders was founded in 1970 by former SAS officer Sir Mike Gooley CBE with a staff of four. Today the company remains privately owned, has over 1,000 members of staff, and has made travel arrangements for over 16 million clients.
47 Travel Centres are staffed by the most experienced travel consultants in the industry who are on hand 7 days a week, located throughout the UK and Ireland.
Experts in tailormaking itineraries worldwide, Trailfinders offers unbeatable value and exceptional service. It has become one of Britain’s most recognisable and most loved travel agencies, so much so that it was named the Which? Awards ‘Travel Brand of the Year’ for 2025.
Apart from offering something truly unique to the market, what you probably don’t know about Trailfinders’ success is their steadfastly ‘grow your own’ approach to developing and nurturing top talent.
As a business that straddles 2 sectors where careers aren’t necessarily known for their longevity (customer service and travel), it is a staggering fact that average tenure at Trailfinders is more than 8 years, and 9 out of 10 employees started their careers on the shop floor.
Trailfinders trains their new recruits to work their way up from the Travel Centre to the boardroom, cultivating a staff body that lives and breathes the company ethos.
In recent years, new recruits have joined via an apprenticeship route, following the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017 and the development of a Travel Consultant apprenticeship standard.
So successful have Trailfinders been in training new recruits via the apprenticeship route, that all apprentices at Trailfinders have passed their apprenticeship, with nearly 80% achieving the top Distinction grade so far.
Leading on apprenticeships for the business is Ally Haviland. She explains how the apprenticeship model has been beneficial for talent management.
“Training & Development has always been at the forefront of what we do here at Trailfinders. We are known as ‘The Travel Experts’ so it’s important we live up to our name and reputation. We achieve this by providing all staff members an extensive training programme that starts from day one.
“Introducing the Travel Consultant Apprenticeship has been a great success. It’s made us look at all our training content and processes with fresh eyes, ensuring all training for every consultant is as thorough and consistent as it can be.
“The apprenticeship is a fantastic added benefit for new starters, offering them a Level 3 qualification on top of the incredible travel industry experience they gain from working at Trailfinders. Engagement from our apprentices has been made clear by our outstanding Distinction rate.”
iCQ Awards is the End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) for Trailfinders and a host of other travel agencies across the UK. Their role is to conduct the final, independent evaluation of an apprentice’s skills, knowledge, and behaviours, confirming they have achieved the requirements of their apprenticeship standard.
“Trailfinders is a real example of best practice when it comes to apprenticeships. They are a business that truly ‘gets’ what the apprenticeship route has to offer and how it complements their business.
“This is reflected in the fact that they get a very high distinction rate and buck the trend in the industry not just for longevity but in the marketplace too.”
Trailfinders has been working with iCQ since 2023. Speaking about the support the EPAO has provided, Ally said:
“ICQ Awards have been fantastic for us.
“When we decided to utilise the apprenticeship levy and introduce apprenticeships into our recruitment and training, iCQ were so helpful in guiding us through it all.
“Since then, they have been amazing in supporting Trailfinders and our apprentices and helping us get to grips with the processes and systems involved for EPAs.
“ICQ have made me feel really comfortable in reaching out when I have questions, and will always get back to me quickly. We couldn’t ask for more hands on support, and we’re really happy we chose ICQ as our EPAO.”
