Travel Explorer Magazine Issue 4

THE RB WAY:
MEETING THE TEAM & CLIENTS
Words by Andrew Youngson
The best way to find out what makes RB Collection tick is to look from the inside out, as
Andrew Youngson discovered.
When you speak with the RB team, you hear a lot of words
like ‘unique’, ‘our way’ and ‘different’. This was certainly
the case when I recently spent an afternoon talking to
the team on the shop floor.
Previously (see last issue) I met with some of the leading
lights from ‘the office upstairs’ – namely Managing
Director, Alan, and Director Oliver. My interest at that
point was to get the historical viewpoint of how RB
Collection came to being the luxury consultancy it is
today.
Alan and Oliver took me on a trip through the decades
describing – along with the important third cog in the
wheel, Director Nathan – the ways they had moulded
themselves to the changing tides of the travel industry
and its marketplace. But they also shed some light on the
ways in which they had actively and purposely shaped
themselves to their own vision. A vision which could be
called the ‘RB way’.
Luxury over cheap; bespoke over package; personal over
faceless. These principles are the backbone of RB, from
the office upstairs to the shop floor.
To see these values in practice, I met with some of the
company’s travel consultants to better understand what
makes RB special from their perspectives. Apart from
Lisa, who has been with the company for nearly 10 years,
the three consultants I met with had joined pretty much
within the past 20-months. Each came with different
amounts of experience in the travel industry, though
largely from larger high street travel brands.
I was curious, then, to see how different they felt RB was
from anywhere else they had worked. And as someone
who has never booked with RB myself, it was interesting
to feel how different the shop and its staff felt from
anywhere I had booked through before. I was also lucky
to meet some of RB’s long-term clients, who shone a
light on why they continue to come back for more.
Warm hellos, generous handshakes and multiple offers
of coffee came at me from the moment I stepped into
the office. If this is anything like the welcome clients get,
I thought to myself, I can see why people put the fate of
their holidays in these fine people’s hands.
Who: Clare Buckley
What: Luxury Travel Consultant
When: Clare started at RB in April 2016
Top tips for 2018: Croatia, Sardinia and Corsica
When I met her, poor Clare had a terrible summer cold.
But even through the streaming eyes and mountain of
tissues, I could tell why she was brought on to the RB
team. From the way she spoke about destinations and
clients it was clear she was incredibly switched on, and
fired up (even with a cold!) about working in a busy and
creative environment.
What’s your favourite part about working at RB?
“I love it here because I’m getting stuck into enquiries.
The destinations people travel to here are very different
to other places I’ve worked. It’s much more specialised.
People want something a little bit more complicated and
in-depth.
“That’s much more interesting for me, to learn about
things I didn’t know, and to discover new destinations.
It’s not just people wanting to book a flight and a hotel.
You feel like you’re creating the client’s holiday for them,
which is much more rewarding. It means a lot to feel like
your job is so worthwhile.”
38 | RB COLLECTION | TRAVEL EXPLORER
Travel Explorer Magazine Issue 4.indd 38 15/01/2018 12:46