A mother-of-two who left her job in the city to start her own travel company has won a national award after just a year in the business.

Nicola Foley, of Montalt Road, Woodford Green, won the top homeworking agency award at Travel Trade Gazette’s (TTG) Top 50 ceremony last week.

The 42-year-old left her job as head of operations at a bank in 2009 after giving birth to her two boys Edward and Ben.

But having travelled the world from Australia to America before she became a parent, she decided to set up a business to share the joys of travelling with other people.

After training with Travel Counsellors for just eight months, she started her own business at home in Woodford Green in January 2015.

She said: “I absolutely love travel.

“I’ve been everywhere from Sydney to the far east, America and all around Europe, so I just wanted to share those amazing experiences with other people.”

Mrs Foley added that she does not advertise her services, relying solely on networking and word of mouth to bring in clients.

She said: “I am so grateful to the local community for giving me so much support over the past year.

“I tailor everything to suit what my customers like and don’t like, so they get a really personalised holiday they won’t get if they go to a high street agent.”

Since setting up last year, 62 per cent of her clients have come back to book a second holiday with her.

Mrs Foley also says her career change has given her greater flexibility, so she does not have to miss out on her children growing up.

She said: “The way my business works is fantastic as a working mum.

“It allows me to go to my children’s sports days and school assemblies and then work in the evenings and weekends so I don’t miss out anything.”

Mrs Foley said she was “elated” to find out she had beaten four other independent travel agents from across the country to be named best homeworking agency.

She said: “It makes everything worthwhile, and I want to thank my fantastic customers for making it possible.”

TTG managing director Daniel Pearce said: “The top homeworking agency was a very hotly contested category, and it was a pleasure to be able to present the award to such a vibrant, energetic and forward thinking business as Travel Counsellors, in honour of the many hundreds of successful homeworkers that rank alongside it."

For more information see the Travel Counsellors website.

www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/nicola.foley