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Bdaily meets Summer Takeover: the Newcastle student startup generating £500k turnover

Jamie Hardesty catches up with Ben Trattles, Harley Gibb and Warren Pearson, the directors at Summer Takeover, arguably the most successful startup to emerge from Northumbria University’s Enterprise placement scheme, a programme which supports students to test and grow their business ideas.

Last speaking to the boys in November 2014, the trio were celebrating reaching the milestone of one year in business and a £100k turnover.

Since then, ‘business has been fantastic’ according to Ben, the firm’s founder, now in his final year at university.

With sustained growth and vibrant ambition, Summer Takeover is enjoying increased success in catering to the market of young travellers who wish to work abroad by offering working holiday packages to party destinations.

Via the company’s webpage, travellers can book everything in one place, securing a job, accommodation, the help of experienced representatives and an itinerary of activities in the first week which introduce them to the lifestyle.

“We doubled in size last year generating £200,000 turnover and we’re already sold out for Summer 2016 with turnover well exceeding £400,000”, says Harley.

With growing figures bolstered by a new office move to Gateshead and two new staff added so far this year, the young entrepreneurs are looking to expand operations further throughout 2016.

“Last time we spoke we were at only £100k turnover at the end of our first year,” says Ben, “so it’s great to see the significant increase in turnover, profitability and volume of sales.

“Where many other markets might see a ceiling with growth like this the working holiday market is that large we envisage doubling in size next year too, with the addition of more resorts, hotels and partners.”

As travel becomes more accessible in the digital age, the opportunity for further growth in the industry is ever-increasing - something the boys have been keen to take advantage of with the launch of a new venture.

Ben continues: “We have also started a new venture for this Summer named Uncharted Croatia, a week long yachting holiday designed specifically for students which fits perfectly side by side with Summer Takeover’s current clientele. Since its launch in December we have sold 200 spaces for our first voyage and we see fantastic potential in this for the future.”

So what, then, are the upcoming plans for Summer Takeover?

Harley explains: “This year Summer Takeover has far exceeded our predictions so much so that we have filled all our allocations in each resort in record time. Our job as directors really at this stage is to look forward and start thinking about next year and beyond, new resorts, new marketing strategies, more staff and a bigger work space.

“These are all the things we need to think about if we are going to take our company to the next level which we believe we can reach over the next few years. The development that we put into the company at this stage will hold the key to growth in the future.”

“We have been best friends since we were in school, so seeing a company we all founded flourish has been amazing.”

As in any digital service industry, a lot of growth-potential depends on being able to stay ahead of the competition and make effective use of multi-channel marketing - something the boys certainly aren’t stranger to.

“I think when we first came on the scene we revamped a lot of the old ways, we haven’t reinvented the wheel but we analysed the way competition advertised and flipped it on its head,” Ben explains.

“With our competition being a lot more dated than us they might not necessarily understand the power of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“As new companies try and set up it is our main aim to make sure we remain at the pinnacle and always look for new ways to market our product successfully.

“We try and utilise as many avenues as possible during our marketing, we have invested heavily over the last few years into search engine optimisation which now we are really starting to reap the rewards from now”, adds Harley

“We’re incredibly proud of the Summer Takeover brand. We feel it epitomises everything we do and offer to our customers. When people see or hear Summer Takeover we hope it embodies all the positive perceptions we have aimed to create in the customers minds.”

Ben continues: “The brand hits straight home with our target market of young 18-23 year olds with our noticeably fun and bold logo. We believe the identity of Summer Takeover has allowed us to build a large knowledge base amongst customers who all keen to spread the word of our services.

“One of the biggest challenges we have overcome is establishing our own brand identity in a competitive market. We have managed to do the little things better than everyone else and have been able to distinguish Summer Takeover and our service.”

“We reach potential customers of Summer Takeover through multiple channels as we aim to expand the exposure of our service. Social media has allowed us reach a mass audience which coincides with the creation of engaging content.”

“For us now, it’s all eyes on the £1m next year. That’ll be a huge milestone.”

With digital tools and ways to increase exposure ever-evolving, a constant which remains at the heart of the business is the boys’ relationship with one another.

“We have been best friends since we were in school, so seeing a company we all founded flourish has been amazing. We all couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not share the success together”, explains Warren.

“That being said there has been some tough times where disagreements have occurred, but we think that’s totally natural. We’ve got a lot better at separating our work and friendship and distinguishing our roles and responsibilities in the company which has also helped.”

Warren continues: “We created two jobs at the start of this year, so we have a new Social Media and Sales Manager which really frees us up focus more on business development. For the beginning of next year we will be looking to hopefully take on another two staff to increase our office team to seven or eight.

“We believe the passion we have for Summer Takeover is embodied in everything we do. Our enthusiasm for helping people work abroad for the first time runs consistently throughout all our business; from the first point of contact, customer service and marketing.

“We are on target to turn over £480k with Summer Takeover and Uncharted. For us now, it’s all eyes on the £1m next year. That’ll be a huge milestone.”

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