From two men with empty pockets to the world's best lifestyle franchise

The UK's number one travel franchise for people new to the industry was founded on the eve of the September 11 attacks by two entrepreneurs who had just lost most of their money. Twenty-five years on, the business turns over more than £200 million in holiday sales a year and has just been named Best Lifestyle Franchise in the World for the second consecutive year.

On 10 September 2001, Steve Witt and Paul Harrison signed the paperwork for a travel company. The following morning, every plane in the world was grounded and the industry they had just entered stopped dead overnight. The company that had sold them the franchise even rang to offer their money back. They turned it down.

That single decision says a great deal about how The Travel Franchise came to be built. While everyone around them pulled back, Steve and Paul, who had no idea what a normal year in travel was supposed to look like, simply kept going. By the end of that first year they were one of the fastest growing travel companies in the country, largely because everyone else was moving backwards.

Twenty-five years on, The Travel Franchise, which trades under the consumer brand Not Just Travel, is the UK's leading travel franchise for people new to the industry.

No experience required, by design

One of the most striking things about co-founder Steve Witt's own story is how little travel experience he began with. Before founding the company, his entire experience of the industry amounted to a single holiday to Lanzarote.

“I thought, well, I've been on holiday to Lanzarote, I loved it, I'm a travel expert, I can do this.” – Steve Witt, co-founder

That outsider's perspective became the foundation of the entire business. Rather than recruiting experienced travel agents, The Travel Franchise built its model specifically for newcomers. Today around 98% of its consultants join with no travel background whatsoever, and most begin part time around an existing job before building up and going all in.

The unconventional path that shaped the model

Steve Witt's route into business was anything but traditional. Raised in the small Dorset town of Blandford Forum, he was juggling paper rounds, gardening and coffee shop shifts long before the term side hustle existed, and in his spare time he pursued windsurfing seriously enough to become a national one-design champion. He went on to spend five years in the Fire Service, an experience he credits with teaching him discipline, practice and the value of always having a plan.

His first business grew from a habit of saying yes and figuring out the details later. That attitude helped him build one of Europe's fastest growing web hosting and domain registration companies, whose team developed the UK's first subscription-based internet service, the model countless businesses use today. The company was later sold to Europe's largest provider for a significant sum. When the 2008 financial crisis wiped out a subsequent investment, it introduced him to Paul Harrison, and one of franchising's most successful partnerships was born.

The idea behind the franchise model

Co-founder Paul Harrison brought a complementary background, having built network marketing teams across more than 100 countries and earned three seven-figure successes before the pair met. When they analysed the travel franchise sector as the new entrants, they made a deliberately bold decision that still defines the business today. Rather than recruiting people who already had travel experience, they chose to build their company around people who were completely new to the industry.

“Find someone you aspire to be like and copy what they did. That's the basis of the franchise model we've created.” – Steve Witt, co-founder

The logic was simple. Most people already possess the skills that matter most in this business, the ability to build relationships and talk to people, and those skills transfer from almost any career. What newcomers lack is travel knowledge, and that is precisely what the company's training, mentorship and supplier relationships are designed to provide. It is a philosophy summed up in Paul's own mantra, that in order to build the business you first build the people. The turning point came in 2013, when the company launched its now-signature Money-Back Challenge and Millionaire's Retreat and realised it was on to something significant.

A £200 million business that keeps growing

The business now turns over more than £200 million in holiday sales a year. The average booking sits at around £4,500, though the headline figures tell only part of the story. The day after this year’s summer conference, which took place in July, one consultant went out and booked a single holiday worth £165,000. While that is not a typical week, bookings a holiday worth £20k, £30k or £40k  happen regularly across the network.

Crucially, the company continues to expand into new areas. Four years ago, cruise made up around 8 per cent of sales. After launching a dedicated cruise division and immersing consultants in the product first-hand, cruise now accounts for more than a fifth of the business. The same approach has just been applied to luxury travel, with a corporate travel arm, a brand refresh and a new consultant website all in progress.

Training that takes consultants around the world

Investment in consultants extends well beyond the UK. Elite franchisees are invited on two fully funded overseas mentorship retreats. The first, the Millionaire's Retreat, was most recently held at a five-star hotel in Turkey, combining a few nights of sunshine with three days of structured business training. The second, the Elite Experience, takes consultants further afield, with recent trips to Mauritius, Dubai and a ten-night visit to Japan.

“They are not really holidays. They are life-changing trips that happen to feel like one.” – Steve Witt

None of this existed when Steve and Paul were starting out with empty pockets. All of it exists for the person who chooses to start today.

Why now is a compelling time to join

The company points to a clear and measurable shift in consumer behaviour as evidence that demand for personal travel consultants is rising. Research from ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents, shows that 38 per cent of people now want to book their holiday with a real person rather than arranging it themselves online.

The reasons have less to do with the convenience of booking websites and more to do with reassurance. After several years of global disruption, more travellers want someone they can call directly when something goes wrong. That change plays directly to the strengths of personal travel consultants, and in Steve Witt's words, it has made the business busier than ever.

The story of The Travel Franchise can be summarised in a single sentence. Two men with no money and no experience started a travel company on the worst possible day, refused to quit, and built the best version of it in the world. Almost everyone who has joined since started with no travel experience either, and most began part time before building the confidence and client base to go all in.

About The Travel Franchise

The Travel Franchise is the UK's number one travel franchise for people new to the travel industry, operating under the consumer-facing brand Not Just Travel. Founded in 2001, it has helped hundreds of people build successful home-based travel businesses, with 98% joining with no prior travel experience. Franchisees receive comprehensive training, a dedicated Business Consultant, access to more than 450 suppliers and the buying power of the Hays Travel Independence Group.

As well as being voted Best Lifestyle Franchise in the World at the Global Franchise Awards in both 2025 and 2026, The Travel Franchise has been named Britain's Best Home-Based Franchise and Best European Franchise. It is ranked among the top ten franchises in the UK across all sectors, the only travel franchise to hold that position. Its celebrity brand ambassadors include TV broadcaster Eamonn Holmes OBE and double Olympic champion Daley Thompson CBE.

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