Scottish holiday company aims to grow in the US

A Scottish adventure holiday firm is planning to boost its business in America.

Flavours Holidays, specialists in activity holidays in Italy and Spain, celebrated reaching a turnover to £3.5m by unveiling expansion plans, which includes targeting the US market, purchase of a new larger office on the Water of Leith and creating eight jobs, thanks to support from various organisations including Business Gateway Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh-based company was founded by director Lorne Blyth in 1998, who identified a gap in the market for cooking holidays in Europe, after graduating in languages and working as a tour guide.

With a fax machine, mobile phone and home office, at aged 25, Lorne who has a passion for all things Italian, began taking small groups to idyllic and unspoilt regions in the country including Puglia and Tuscany for authentic cooking holidays with local chefs, which quickly grew from 64 clients in the first two years to 250 by year five.

Over the years and to meet customer demand Flavours Holidays now also offers painting, photography, language and pilates vacations to Italy and Spain.

The company has doubled its staff from six to 12 in the past two years and plans to increase it to 20 by the end of 2020, which includes a two-year Entrepreneurial Placement for a graduate who will work on all areas of the business and a 121 founder project.

With over 40% of the business coming from repeat clients, Lorne is focussing on targeting international markets this year, specifically the US which will result in the creation of more new jobs across the pond.

The new office on the Water of Leith, which is five times the size of the current office in Stockbridge, will open in March and feature a demonstration kitchen and host various events including wine tasting and cookery classes.

Lorne Blyth and the Flavours Holidays team

Support from Business Gateway Edinburgh over the last 20 years has included 121 ongoing growth consultancy, workshops, digital and marketing support.

Lorne said: ‘We are going through a really exciting time at the moment at Flavours Holidays as we gear up to move into our own new premises, take on more staff and focus on targeting the US market.

‘Without the fantastic team on board and the support from organisations like Business Gateway Edinburgh, right from the start of our journey, none of this would have been possible. I would encourage anyone in business, at any stage, to tap into the free resources available, which has been testament to our success.’

Susan Harkins, Head of Business Gateway Edinburgh said: ‘Business Gateway Edinburgh is designed to support start ups and growth business with a variety of different resources including 121 mentorships and digital and marketing support, which we are delighted Flavours Holidays has utilised and has been a great help throughout their growth journey.

‘We are very much looking forward to continuing to work with them and wish them all the best for the future.’

Business Gateway Edinburgh provides expert support and guidance to new and existing businesses, including free advice from experienced business advisers to help start-ups and growth businesses planning to expand or find new ways of doing business.

Free resources include workshops and seminars covering everything from marketing and finance to HR and e-commerce.

To find out how Business Gateway Edinburgh can help your business visit www.bgateway.com/Edinburgh

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