‘Social First’ Merseyside-based travel company Travel Seen has acquired a majority stake in Manchester based luxury tour operator, eShores.
The buy-in follows a string of acquisitions in late 2023, including luxury travel agent, Aquilium Club, and sports and experiences tour operator, Vedere. The acquisition of eShores brings c£12 million of turnover, taking the collective group Total Travel Value ‘TTV’ to c£20 million, a clear shift in momentum.
Travel Seen group is headed by industry expert Jen Atkinson and backed by Arete Capital Partners, with the support of several leading Northwest entrepreneurs.
Briony Fagan, investment director at Arete Capital said: “The M&A strategy deployed leverages on existing relationships and trust with management teams; targeting companies with pent-up growth potential in off-market transactions. The nature of the deal sourcing offers fair valuations, allowing owner managed businesses to de-risk whilst continuing to work operationally in the business. Post deal they benefit from centralised services to professionalise the processes of owner managed business.”
Gavin Lapidus and Nadine Brown will remain at the helm of eShores post-deal, retaining a meaningful equity stake, to ensure continuity of service to their customer base. eShores specialises in long-haul, multi-centre trips, which are dynamically packaged for customers to experience a tailor-made trip.
Lapidus said: “I am super proud of the journey and growth of eShores to where it is today, this investment represents an exciting new chapter in the continued growth of the business.”
Previous investment in Aquilium Club, a nationwide network of self-employed homeworkers known as ‘travel directors,’ has seen an increase in sales through focusing on effective lead generation.
Mike Fletcher, joint managing partner of Arete Capital, said: “Since our initial investment in Q3 2021, we have backed Jen’s vision to build a challenger brand in the Travel industry. Over the last 12 months, the business has deployed an M&A strategy which plays to Jen’s strengths and mirrors the success story of her previous experience scaling ITC Travel to a £90 million TTV group prior to exiting”.
Travel Seen is a social first luxury travel group which aims to build the most authentic and engaged travel community in the UK. Travel Seen will create inspiring and authentic travel content and deals, directing customers to book these via its curated network of travel companies.
“The opportunity for building travel brands in the social space is huge” said Atkinson. “Other sectors such as fashion and beauty have been hugely disrupted by social media and we hope to lead the way similarly, in the travel sector.”
