Gray Dawes Group has acquired fellow UK-based travel management company Ventur Travel in a move that will push its annual turnover up to £250 million.
Ventur Travel, which was formerly known as Traveleads before rebranding in May 2021, has offices in Leeds and Edinburgh. It was ranked as the 23rd largest TMC in the UK in BTN Europe’s list of Europe’s Leading TMCs 2022.
The acquisition will also see Ventur’s specialist leisure division Ventur Luxury, based in Harrogate, join Gray Dawes Group. Ventur was formerly privately owned by the Evans family. Further details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Suzanne Horner, Gray Dawes Group’s CEO, said: “I have long admired the business that Gary McLeod, Elaine Holmes and their team have built, first as Traveleads and now as Ventur.
“This latest chapter in our development – Gray Dawes’ 11th acquisition to date – marks such an exciting time for us and our customers.”
Essex-based Gray Dawes’ latest purchase will take its annual turnover to more than £250 million and its total number of employees above 200. Before the Ventur acquisition, Gray Dawes ranked as the largest 13th largest TMC in the UK. The company's history dates back to the 19th century and Gray Dawes remains privately owned by the Inchcape family.
“Welcoming Ventur into the group only strengthens our position and offering. The TMC is renowned across the industry for their loyal and outstanding staff,” added Horner.
The Gray Dawes boss told BTN Europe that all Ventur staff have been retained and that the Ventur brand will be retired in the next four to six weeks. The deal was “great for both parties”, said Horner, adding, “you don't want anyone feeling disgruntled. We got a deal together quite quickly once we heard they were interested in selling.”
Asked what's next for the TMC, Horner said:
“We want to be top 10, top 12 in the UK and we want to remain
independent.”
Horner did not rule out further UK acquisitions but instead pointed to the company's global ambitions.
“We’re no longer part of Radius. The plan now is to build our
own global platform,” she said. “We’ve signed initial terms with an agency in Australia.
They’re slightly bigger than Ventur, have a great reputation, and it will give us a
great foothold there. We’re also having strong conversations in North America
and Asia. We’re hoping to be in the US by the end of the year and very quickly
bring in Asia.”
Gray Dawes’ previous acquisitions include Amber Road, Giles Travel, Chelsea Travel Management, Travel Management Group (TMG) and Cambridge Business Travel (CBT) in the years before the Covid-19 pandemic. For further details, see BTN Europe’s timeline of all major M&A activity in the UK’s TMC market since 2016.
Gary McLeod, Ventur Travel’s business transition consultant, said: “There are so many synergies across the businesses which makes this a very natural fit. By being part of the Gray Dawes Group, we will be even stronger and able to deliver enhanced opportunities to our staff and clients alike.”