How we helped

Founded in 1989, Travel Chapter is one of the UK’s leading providers of self-catering holiday rentals, offering a wide selection of c.8,000 high quality properties across the UK.

Holidaycottages.co.uk is the flagship consumer brand, but the business also has a diverse and growing network of over 30 lifestyle and regional brands. A number of these have been developed in-house, like Canine Cottages and Hide & Sleep, but bolstered through a series of acquisitions in recent years of brands such as Sally’s in the Lake District, Cottages & Castles in Scotland and Gorgeous Cottages in Yorkshire. Across its portfolio of websites, Travel Chapter now see over 40 million sessions each year and has seen over 50% growth in traffic and 60% growth in bookings over the past 12 months, resulting in consistent year on year revenue growth over 30%.

Strategic acquisitions:

  • We supported Travel Chapter to be highly acquisitive, having completed seven high-quality acquisitions during our investment, significantly expanding its geographic footprint and enhancing the overall quality of the properties available.

Sales & marketing:

  • Our commercial team worked closely with Travel Chapter, helping them to deepen their understanding of the needs of their customers and owners to improve the respective propositions to both.
  • We also helped to support initiatives around growing the rate of organic property sign-ons, which has accelerated the growth of the business.

People & culture:

  • Under the leadership of the CEO, Jayne McClure, the senior team developed with a combination of promotions of outstanding internal talent and strong new hires, both of which have helped drive the business forward substantially.
  • The business recently introduced a Director of Sustainability and an in-house “green team” who are actively engaged in initiatives to help preserve the coast, country and skies of the UK, including making a donation to restore 1sqm of woodland for every booking received in 2021 to support RSPB.
  • Furthermore, Travel Chapter encourage their staff to engage with causes of interest, giving them a paid day per year to volunteer and support the wider community.

In 2022 ECI announced the completion of the successful sale of Travel Chapter, to the management team, supported by investment from ICG, generating a return of 2.6x.