A YORK holiday company is progressing on an expansion path with the opening of its first overseas office and the launch of a new brand.

Great Rail Journeys, which specialises in rail holidays and employs a team of 150 in St Saviourgate, now has a team of staff in a New York office dedicated to growing the brand in the US.

The business has also launched a new brand Great Cruise Journeys.

Offering escorted river cruises around the world, the brand seeks to bring a new offering to existing and new customers alongside its growing rail holiday range.

Alex Roberts, group marketing and sales director, said: “We have been doing two things over the past three years; developing product distribution and building our product range.

“In November last year our website went live in the States and we were really impressed with the interest generated. That was all handled through our call centre here in York, with staff working extra hours to deal with the volume and the time difference. Now we’ve got our New York team ready on the end of the telephone.

“We have also launched Great Cruise Journeys, our new river cruise brand.

“Our customers travel on average five times a year. We get one of those bookings. We are now offering them something different for another holiday from a brand they trust.

“Our goals at the moment is for the UK to continue growing through product evolution. We’re looking to grow international markets as well with a focus on the US. Then Great Cruise Journeys will bring in revenue as a new brand. The early signs for that are really encouraging, it’s delivering the bookings we want it to.”

In its latest results the firm’s parent company, Thomas Topco Ltd, attributed a drop in turnover of more than £6 million, to £80.4 million, to “unprecedented challenging conditions” in Europe as a result of terror attacks.

However, the company’s full year results, for the year ending October 31, 2016, saw pre-tax profits rise from £943,000 to £4.28 million.

Mr Roberts said: “Terrorism doesn’t help in business, especially a travel business. We were able to develop a new range where we fly to rail, giving them the rail experience at the other end, and mitigating any uncertainty. That worked really well and is now a stand alone product.”