A BOOM in demand for holidays has led to a York firm dealing in hotel breaks taking on 30 more reservation staff.

The number of reservation staff at Superbreak Mini-Holidays Ltd, in Piccadilly, has soared by 19 per cent to 186 and brought the total number on the firm's payroll to 311.

This was revealed as the company makes its pitch for the Growth Business of the Year in the 2004 Evening Press Business of the Year Awards.

The recruitment spurt reflects the company's fifth and best year of sustained growth through challenges of foot and mouth, rail crashes and the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, as well as the huge changes brought about in the travel industry by the internet.

By year's financial end, in October last year, predicted growth in revenue was 13.2 per cent year on year. Since then the target has been overshot by a 20 per cent, with profits up by 51 per cent.

A new brochure, Beach Hotels & Self-Catering In Europe And Beyond, launched last October has generated more than £3 million sales to date.

A huge boost to sales has been the introduction of an intranet system which linked into the reservation process.

It meant that time on the phone to take bookings was almost halved as relevant information was at reservation advisers' fingertips.

Much more product and marketing information, including pictures of adverts, could be loaded on to the new system and help with conversion of calls and tracking progress. It meant that it was easier to train recruits.

At the same time the firm's internet sites for both travel agents and customers were improved, adding theatre breaks and event breaks to an expanded portfolio of hotels which could be booked online.

Andrew Talbot, marketing manager, said: "Superbreak had a challenge to achieve its growth target set in October, which was already on the back of several years' successive growth.

"Through a planned strategy of improvement in infrastructure, such as IT, training and staff recruitment, supplier relationships with hotels and ticket agencies, marketing, new product development and, perhaps, some good fortune, we are well ahead of growth targets."

Updated: 09:55 Thursday, August 19, 2004