Gurnard based In2action, an activity company specializing in training, recruitment and consultancy services picked up the Chamber Of Commerce’s Customer Service Award this year, along with the even more prestigious Business Of The Year trophy. The recognition ties in with In2action’s tenth anniversary. Tom Stroud hears their story.
Husband and wife team George and Karen Ross are the joint owners and Managing Directors of a remarkable business. In2action are specialists in operating, consulting, recruiting, and delivering training for more than 50 holiday centres worldwide. Their clients include; TUI, First Choice Holidays, Hoseasons, Canvas Holidays and Center Parcs. Each year the In2action team swells to around 350 employees in the summer months, with staff at work in over 30 locations across the globe, delivering adventure, sport and play activities that are designed, developed and managed by the team based in Gurnard. It’s estimated that around a million people will engage with In2action staff and products each year.
“We have a team of 15 people running the worldwide operation from our base at Gurnard,” explains George Ross. “We recruit each year and up to 400 staff are trained on the Island, at various holiday centres. We’re probably a bit of a mystery to most people! We do things all over the world but the people that my kids go to school with still have no idea what we do.”
Karen and George have a long association with the Island and the leisure industry. They began working together at Little Canada in 1990 as Business Development Manager and General Manager; in October 2004 they left the company to set up their own business, providing recruitment, training and activity innovation for other holiday companies. Just six months later In2action employed 80 staff in Lanzarote, Turkey, Majorca and Egypt, working with First Choice Holidays.
“Back then, kids clubs run by the big holiday companies tended to be face-painting and parachute games, where parents would dump their kids,” George says. “Staff were either not trained very well or the facilities weren’t great. It was a poor offering. We approached First Choice and told them we could turn their activities into something exciting that would differentiate them.” First Choice liked the proposal and today their parent company TUI is still In2action’s biggest client.
“They were just launching a product called Holiday Village,” explains Karen. “They asked us to have a look at what they could offer. There were no parameters set. At the time their kids clubs were a bit of a ‘best kept secret’. With our experience and knowledge we were able to put kids in swimming pools, which wasn’t happening at the time because of health and safety risks. The kids hadn’t been allowed in the pool in hot weather which was crazy. We put in our operating procedures and training systems and we brought in programmes of snorkelling, raft building, canoeing and aquafun sessions. We also put in high ropes courses and brought in new exciting activities, including aeroball, archery and bodyzorbs aimed at children, opening them up to a new audience.
“Once we convinced them that we could do it we became integral to the Holiday Village product and we were able to launch In2action with a five year contract with First Choice. They had an aggressive growth plan and we were a part of that growth. They then broadened their programme and so we moved into adults and family entertainment too.”
With the crucial contract in place Karen and George were able to assemble their team, bringing in several former colleagues from Little Canada who are still a part of the business after ten years. George was able to repay that loyalty, although he knows that back in 2004 it was unknown territory for everyone involved.
“That was such an important time and our staff came to work for us based on our dream. We couldn’t promise them that the company would last. First Choice also took a punt on us. They were a PLC and we didn’t even have an office!”
The fledgling company was initially based in a farmhouse on Newport’s Long Lane where George and Karen provide offices and accommodation for the team of seven. For 18 months the farmhouse was a hive of activity. Each of the four holiday centres required equipment worth £30,000, all of which was delivered to Long Lane before it was shipped out via Gatwick.
“One evening we had a conversation about whether we should uproot our lives and move to Crawley,” remembers Karen. “First Choice were based there and we would have been near to Gatwick. We look back now and think ‘Thank God we didn’t.’ We can run our business anywhere, and as the training side grew, being based on the Island worked to our advantage.”
In2action has been based in Gurnard for the last five years. Alongside their TUI contract their client base has grown tenfold, with the team diversifying and winning work in new sectors including the skiing industry, camping and UK holiday markets. Most of their new business is based on reputation and word of mouth.
“We could run the business from practically anywhere,” Karen says, “but if you talk to the team there’s so much passion for being on the Isle of Wight. We are also proud to be based on the Isle of Wight and to prove that a successful international business can easily thrive here. It’s a very dynamic industry so there’s a lot of freshness too. We recruit from across the country but everyone is trained here on the Island.”
In2action is a non-traditional tourism business, as far as the Island economy is concerned. They pull off a rare trick – bringing tourism business here outside of the summer months, as George explains.
“We’re putting over 300 people through a fortnight’s training each year, in January through April, at various locations on the Island. Holiday centres bite your hand off for that sort of business. Over the last ten years we’ve probably brought around 5,000 staff here for two weeks of training, and those people come back too.”
In 2015 In2action’s business had two distinct arms. Experience Adventure is aimed at schools, running residential adventure courses in peak season at Thorness Bay as well as on the mainland. It’s an area that offers significant growth, along with their Activities to Inspire arm, working with their leisure industry partners. “We want to keep our contracts,” George stresses, and attention to detail is a high priority, particularly when staff are delivering products and services in other countries and time zones. The company employs two overseas product managers who spend their time traveling from site to site.
Another major step forward for the company came when In2action was approached by Center Parcs. Karen, George and Ellie Websdell, the company Operations Director, spent two days reviewing their operation and put forward a proposal; they’ve worked with them ever since, training over 500 of their staff.
“Center Parcs are the market leader in UK holidays and to be asked by them to critically look at their operation was fantastic,” says Karen. “It also renewed our confidence. The feedback has been fantastic and we’ve been able to have a huge impact. You do have to pinch yourself sometimes because it’s quite surreal. We’ve probably influenced every aspect of the company, from MDs to operational directors, gardeners to staff. We’ve also designed activities for them from scratch.”
2015 looks like being another record year for In2action. They’ve recently expanded their contract with First Choice which will run for another 3 years, taking them into 2018. Karen and George even beat competition from internal applicants as part of the process. In ten years their company has been a huge success, with growth in revenue and recognition. George makes sure that his team receive full credit.
“The staff are the foundation of the company. The training they receive here on the Island is the key. I always remind them that they’re professionals, not ‘activity instructors’ or ‘holiday reps’. With the right training, support and management they can turn any product into a winning formula. Our guys turn great holidays into magical holidays, and fantastic activities into unbelievable ones.”
First published in January 2015 issue of Island Business magazine.
