James and Tom Mannings from Sandwich are expanding Top Villas at the Discovery Park
00:00, 29 March 2014
updated: 10:17, 29 March 2014
Two brothers are expanding their holiday home business at the Discovery Park in Sandwich.
James and Tom Mannings started their holiday rental business four years ago, out of the spare bedroom at their Sandwich family home.
Since then, Top Villas has been expanding and moved to the Discovery Park, Ramsgate Road, last year. Now, it is moving to a bigger 3,000 sq ft office within the site on Tuesday (April 1).
James, 30, and Tom, 27, attended Sir Roger Manwood’s school before starting up the business.
James now lives in Monkton in Thanet, and Tom lives in Sandwich.
Visits to a family-owned holiday home in Florida when they were young sparked the idea to create the business.
James Mannings said: “We are a unique and creative company, and have rapidly expanded our luxury villa portfolio and workforce.
“We are relishing the opportunity to grow a skilled and dynamic workforce in-house to drive the business forward to where we aspire to be.”
The business’s new premises will have a holiday-themed office boasting grass floors, palm trees, an artificial beach and a games area.
Mr Mannings added: “We want to give our employees somewhere to feel inspired, with a fun space to take a break and connect with one another.”
Top Villas is now one of the leading villa rental specialists, and the increasing demand has enabled it to offer apprenticeships for young people to gain valuable insight into the travel industry.
Their newest apprentice, Emily Harris, 19, also from Sandwich, joined the firm in September.
She said: “The variety of tasks set to me as an apprentice means I am constantly gaining a wide knowledge of an industry I am really interested in.”
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