‘Brexit is our opportunity’ - Meath travel firm not put off by UK upheaval
JIMMY GEOGHEGAN
Those involved in the well-known Meath travel management company, Hannon Travel, are looking to expand further into markets in Northern Ireland and Britain by setting up new offices in Belfast - despite the uncertainty of Brexit.
The company was started 20 years ago by Eimear Hannon working from her spare bedroom in her home in Navan. The enterprise now employs 27 people with the founder and managing director looking on Brexit as something of a challenge that can be utilised to help her company expand rather than a negative.
“I prefer to look at Brexit as an opportunity,” she says. “While many companies are exercising caution with Brexit looming, our feeling is to prepare now for the opportunities that may arise as we continue to build on our existing strong Northern Ireland and UK client portfolio,” she added.
“There is a massive move of UK travel agents and setting up partnerships in Ireland with Irish agents we in Ireland have to protect ourselves by going into Northern Ireland and the UK because that's going to be a different market, it's not going to be in the European Union anymore and we have to serve our clients in these locations and worldwide. The main thing is to be in a position to facilitate those who have EU and non-EU identities.”
“We look after corporate travellers on a global basis and a lot of our clients are based in the the UK and in countries such as Singapore and America as well as Ireland. While our head office is in Ireland we seek to look after clients worldwide.”
Originally from Navan, Eimear Hannon (above) attended St Joseph's Mercy Secondary School before landing a job working with USIT at UCD. She saw an opportunity and set up Hannon Travel in the spare bedroom of her house and it has steadily grown since. Part of the success of the firm she puts down to providing a high quality service to corporate travellers in a variety of sectors including aircraft leasing, pharmaceuticals, finance, equestrianism, engineering and mining.
“We’ve built up a very strong business over the past 20 years by providing our clients with the highest levels of personal service and I am proud to say that we stand out in the industry because of this dedication to looking after our clients and being on hand 24 hours-a-day throughout their journey until they are safely home,” is how she puts it.
Hannon Travel is now the main sponsor of Navan Rugby Club with Eimear happy to help out the local club believing it's important to help out the community in such ways. On the business front she also looks to expand her horizons.
“Our focus in Ireland is to continue to grow our market share by leading the way in the corporate travel market, but I believe the time is now right to expand our business into new markets.”
Travel expert Mukesh Sharma MBE, has joined up with Hannon Travel and he will be involved as the company seeks to gain a firmer foothold in Northern Ireland and Britain - despite the uncertainty of Brexit.
“Hannon Travel’s reputation is second to none within the Irish corporate market and I am looking forward to introducing our unique and bespoke travel solutions to corporate travellers in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Business people now more than ever are under huge pressure to perform and deliver and their travel arrangements should not add unnecessary tension to their job,” he added.
Regina Gregan who has signed up as HT's head of sales taking taking with her extensive experience in the Irish travel sector.
“I look forward to building upon Hannon Travel’s tremendous success in the corporate travel market and growing the business even further in Ireland with Eimear and Mukesh,” she said.