'It has been fantastic' - South Shields' Westoe Travel celebrates 35 years in business

Staff at Westoe Travel, on Westoe Road in South Shields, have celebrated 35 years in business on Sunday, January 28.

Owners Graeme and Joan Brett founded the business in 1989 when they took over the newsagents at 134 Westoe Road.

In the beginning, Westoe Travel only offered Blue Line coach tickets to London but soon expanded its offering to include hotels, rail travel and coach holidays in the UK.

Graeme and Joan then moved the business to its current location at 120 Westoe Road on July 4, 2005, where it was officially opened by the then MP for South Shields, David Miliband.

As the couple mark the business' 35th birthday, Graeme has reflected on the years gone by and has put its success down to a strong community spirit in South Shields.

Graeme said: "Time has just flown and it has been fantastic, Joan and I have worked together for 24 hours a day and then to have the same customers come back time and time again is great.

"We've still got customers who we used to deliver the newspaper to when we had the old shop still booking holidays with us.

"People that used to come in with their parents to book a day trip are now coming in with their children to book their holidays, so it has been fantastic to see everybody grow up.

"It has also been great to be part of the community because South Shields is special in the way that everyone looks after each other

"We've always made sure that when we're buying products for the shop, we always use someone who is local.

"I think that it is unique to South Shields and it is what makes South Shields special."

Three-and-a-half decades in business is a long time and Graeme has reflected on some of his favour moments from the years gone by.

He added: "When South Shields went to Wembley for the final of the FA Vase in 2017, we had so many supporters book through us and then we sponsored the team bus.

"That was amazing and the other was when Little Mix were on X-Factor in 2011.

"Jade and Perrie's mams would come in and we'd help arrange the travel down to the shows, it was something that we were involved in every week and it was great to follow their journey to the final.

"Both these events united the town of South Shields as everyone was backing the same thing and that was wonderful to see."

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One of the key things to Westoe Travel's success is that it has always been a family-run business, something that Graeme has confirmed will continue for years to come as his and Joan's daughter, Gillian Vogel, is now manager of the shop.

He commented: "We're a family business and when we had the old shop, my mam and dad used to work there as well and now we've got Gillian, our daughter who has taken over a manager here.

"We'd also like to thank the people of South Shields for all the support that we've had.

"For a small family business, it is really special for us and it is very humbling to have had all that support, especially for people to keep coming back over the years.

"We really appreciate every single person who has booked with us over that time."