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Gloucestershire Business News

Gloucester travel business appoints new chief executive

The new chief executive of Mike Burton Group said it is looking to the future after surviving a Covid slump.

The Gloucester-based specialist arranges travel for major sporting events worldwide and has joint ventures with England Rugby.

The knock-on effects of lockdowns and no fans at games meant it suffered a 93 per cent decrease in turnover during 2020/21.

New boss Justin Hopwood said the nature of the business meant turnover fluctuated from £7million up to £35million between 2016-20 but the figure of just under £3million for the last financial year was the lowest levels they had seen in over five years. He said it was largely due to the Olympics being cancelled.

He said: "Tokyo didn't happen and that would have been a peak back up. It is hugely disappointing but the cyclical nature is something we have dealt with as a business for 40 years.

"We also lost the Italy England rugby game which is a big event for us every two years in Rome so there was a slightly larger impact from Covid in that Spring of 2020. And then the other international rugby fixtures that Autumn were played behind closed doors which had an impact."

The company based in Quedgeley employs around 45 people, most of which were furloughed during lockdown with no redundancies made.

Mr Hopwood has taken over the top role from Ian Edwards who retired following 32 years with the business and said he is ready to take the company into its next era.

"It's been a challenging time for everyone but we have managed it effectively and efficiently and come out to some extent stronger in terms of where our ambitions lie."

It operates Rugby England Travel in the UK as well as companies in New Zealand, Australia and Japan to bring fans over for games. He believes the pandemic may actually have increased the demand for their services.

"More people have been reflecting on what they want to get from their trips and experiences and memories and more are enquiring and purchasing and wanting to go on the trips we deliver.

"We had our best ever Six Nations this spring and have got the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France which is a huge project and opportunity and planning for the 2025 Lions Tour is well underway.

"The school's touring market is returning this summer and we have a huge number of those for next year. And we have already sold out of some of our Six Nations for next year.

"The next 12-18 months for us are massive and we have got some new roles coming in the next few months as we scale up to some of those big events."

He has already given his team a shakeup to help deliver the long-term vision of the business.

Five new directors have been appointed to oversee marketing and product sales, operations and customer experience, legal, technology, and finance.

Three new department heads and three new managers have also been appointed.

My Hopwood said the changes reflected what he wanted the next few years to look like for the company with a focus on technology and the customer experience.

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