Alfa Leisureplex Group, the UK’s largest coach holiday hotel group is rebranding under the Alfa Holiday Group umbrella. Managing Director Emma Russell explains the reasons for the change and talks about recent growth for the business
There’s a definite buzz around Alfa’s head office near Chorley in Lancashire. In part it’s because of last October’s move to the new premises, a move described at the time as being needed after a period of significant growth and to accommodate an expanding team.
As Managing Director Emma Russell noted at the time: “It’s been a big year for Alfa and we’re really excited about this move. We’ve invested a lot in our new office, with a complete refurbishment to create a great place to work for our employee owners, complete with welcoming facilities for our customers and visitors.”
But now, with the start of the new year, the buzz is continuing as the long-established Alfa Leisureplex Group, comprising Alfa Travel and Leisureplex Hotels, executes a rebrand to become Alfa Holiday Group.
Under the Group banner, Alfa Travel becomes Alfa Holidays, with the hotel division becoming Alfa Hotels.
The company says that this strategic consolidation under what it describes as the single, trusted Alfa name, reflects the company’s continued commitment to providing high quality, exceptional value holidays across the UK and Ireland.
The rebrand also sees the introduction of a new, modern identity that is sensibly a case of evolution, not revolution.
The foundations for today’s activities were laid in 1984 when the Sawbridge family created the Leisureplex hotel business catering mainly for clients on coach holidays, acquiring the Hydro Hotel in Llandudno. In 1990, with the Leisureplex hotel portfolio having grown to five, including the Eliot Hotel in Newquay and the Selborne Hotel in Dunoon, Alfa Travel was established to organise coach holidays to those hotels. The holidays were initially from north west England, using selected partner coach operators. In 1996, Alfa Coaches was formed to provide an in-house fleet.
In 1997 Alfa extended its operating area by creating new coach holiday programmes from north east England. Expansion continued with new programmes from south east England in 1999, the Midlands in 2003 and Yorkshire and Humberside in 2016.
Fast forward to November 2014 and Peter and Karen Sawbridge attended that year’s Employee Ownership Association conference. In 2015, inspired by what they saw at the conference, in particular the example of the John Lewis Partnership, they led an employee-backed buyout with Paul and Peter Sawbridge becoming directors of the new company and trustees of the employee trust.
Emma Russell, then Financial Controller, became Group Financial Director. She stepped up as Managing Director in July 2019.
“The team embraces employee ownership,” explains Emma. “We’ve developed a culture where all parts of the business have a say in the business. Put simply, we’re all in it together. We have an Employee Council that meets quarterly and brings our different teams together and provides an additional governance and employee voice layer. Everyone feels part of what we’re doing. But in turn, the management team are very approachable. We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved.”
Significant growth since 2019
Working with Emma is Operations and Transport Director, David Howard, along with People Services Director, Sean Keely. The original Sawbridge family link is maintained with Karen Sawbridge as non-executive director.
Head of Transport Operations is Ian Bishop, who has been with the company since joining as Operations Manager in 2006 from a role as Transport Manager with Shearings.
Today, Alfa owns 25 hotels, the last addition, the Derwentwater Hotel in the Lake District, being acquired in 2025.
“We have 18 hotels in England, four in Wales and three in Scotland,” explains Emma. “We have around 400 pick-up points serving some 80 destinations across the UK and Ireland. We have an 11-month operating period that starts at the end of January and runs through to the new year.”
Emma notes that the number of customers choosing to travel with Alfa has increased significantly since 2019 with the Group’s turnover having grown by over 80% during the same period.
“That growth was prompted to a large extent by what happened to other tour operators during the COVID pandemic when there was a lot of change in the sector,” she says. “We communicated well with our customers as well as making sure we were focused on delivering the best customer service experience possible. Our success has been driven by continually developing coach holiday experiences and investing in our employee owners, who go that extra mile for our guests. We also had the benefit of owning our own hotels. “Since the pandemic we’ve bought four hotels: the Norfolk Royale in Bournemouth and three former Shearings’ hotels, in Melrose, Weymouth and the Lake District. We’re investing around £10 million in hotel refurbishment this year with a full refurbishment of our Derwentwater Hotel in the Lakes.”
In 2020, Alfa acquired Scottish coach holiday operator David Urquhart Travel.
“The company was up for sale,” says Emma. “We felt it was a good fit for the business giving us a customer base in part of the UK we weren’t serving. We kept the well-respected brand until August 2024 then merged it into Alfa. That, and the four additional hotels, certainly aided the growth we’ve experienced over these last few years.”
Focusing on the Tourismo
The Alfa Coaches fleet comprises 55 Mercedes-Benz Tourismos, the oldest being a 19-plate.
The fleet is being increased to 61 this year with five new Tourismos and an Irizar i6s.
“We aim to replace eight to 10 vehicles a year,” explains Ian Bishop. “We have a long-standing relationship with Mercedes-Benz and have a further 10 Tourismos on order for 2027. We moved to Mercedes-Benz in 2013. Having a single vehicle type has been easier for our drivers, and for seat layout. Vehicles are maintained under warranty by Mercedes-Benz dealers with other activity carried out at our own workshops in Wheelton, near Chorley.
“Drivers keep their own coach and look after it. For many, the coach is very much their home during the season. In addition to our own fleet we work with a number of preferred partner operators. Those vehicles aren’t in Alfa livery, but have to meet the high standards we set out for our own fleet. We are privileged to work with some great operators.”
The design of Alfa’s holiday product utilises seven interchanges, all based at motorway services. These are Durham (A1M), Burtonwood (M62), Rotherham (M1), Skelton Lake, Leeds (M1) Tamworth (M42), Reading (M4) and South Mimms (M25). Tours originating in Scotland pick up on line of route.
The majority of tours use Alfa’s own hotels, with the others spread around Alfa’s preferred partner properties across the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland.
Understanding the product
“A significant proportion of our business is repeat bookings,” says Emma. “One customer has already booked 38 holidays with us for 2026! We also run hundreds of coach hires each year for group travel organisers. We understand the combined coach holiday product and experience. We’re not just operating hotels, and we’re not just operating coaches. This combination means our employee owners can give the best experience to our customers, from the moment they make a booking through to taking care of their travel arrangements and their stay with us at one of our hotels.
“We focus on what we do best. We focus on our age group, and in doing that we make sure our product is as good as it can be. Coach holidays are a social, friendly product. We’re passionate about what we do, and doing it well. But we keep moving it on. Across the wider coach tourism industry we’re members of the Association for Group Travel Organisers, Confederation of Passenger Transport, UKCOA and the Coach Tourism Association.”
A team effort
Getting back to the rebrand and Emma notes that customers and employees have been heavily involved in the decision.
“The rebrand comes into effect on 25 January,” she says. “While our look and names are changing, we’re making sure that everything our customers know and love about the business remains the same. We have a programme in place to rebrand the coaches, the uniforms and the hotels. Much of the branding was due for updating so the timing is perfect.
“Looking at the overall picture, the continued growth is extremely positive considering the wider economic situation. We aim to be the best coach holiday operator in the UK and that’s down to a massive team effort. As an employee-owned company, we’re in a great place for further growth.”
