Melton businessman links up with his cricket hero in new sports tour firm
A Melton Mowbray businessman says he is thrilled to re-enter the sports travel industry with one of his cricketing heroes.
Ian Kerr ran a cricket tour business with huge success for 17 years before the Covid pandemic had a significant impact on its operations.
He decided to sell the company to a leading sports travel business four years ago but has planned ever since to return to the sector.
His new firm – Follow On Tours – is now officially off the mark with strong support from former England Test match bowler Darren Gough MBE, who is on board as an ambassador and shareholder.
Ian told the Melton Times: “I was 18, on the hill at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1999, and Darren Gough took a hat-trick.
"That morning is the reason I've done everything I've done since.
"Twenty-seven years later he's rung me up and put his own money into my business.
"You couldn't write it."
Ian’s first touring experience was to the Ashes in Australia in 1999 and after starting his cricket touring firm it quickly became a big hit.
By the middle of the last decade it had secured about 40 per cent of the UK market and was the biggest specialist cricket travel company in the world.
The team from BBC radio’s Test Match Special travelled with them, as did members of the press pack covering tours abroad.
A memorable party, with hundreds of customers attending, was held in Melton to celebrate the company’s 10th birthday, with batting legend Sir Geoffrey Boycott as guest speaker.
The pandemic hit in March 2020 and Ian explains: “We got everyone home from Sri Lanka on the first plane we could find, which cost us a fortune, and then the refunds came in.
"Seventeen years of net current assets went.
"The company ticked over until an offer came in, and we let it go in 2022."
He is excited about the new business and the link with Gough – the man who first inspired his successful move into the sports tour business.
Go to www.followontours.com to find out more about the company.