Within 4 years of leaving the Army, living off foodbanks and going from job to job, Thomas Elliott from Newcastle Upon Tyne decided enough was enough and created a Stag and Hen business which now operates in 6 cities around the UK.
Thomas 26, established Stags vs Hens with just £500 in his pocket, zero staff and a burning ambition to succeed. That grit, determination and entrepreneurial mind-set paid off as Stags vs Hens has grown into a flourishing business with a projected turnover of more than £400k for 2022, multiple casual staff and plans to expand even more into huge Stag and Hen destinations such as Bristol and Manchester and Belfast!
After previously working for other Hen and Stag Agencies which are now competitors, Thomas seen a gap in the market to be able to offer customers a more affordable and personal approach to soon to be Brides and Grooms looking to book their Stag or Hen!
Tom said: After leaving the army I never truly knew what I wanted to do, I thought the grass was greener on civvie street but in reality I went from the frying pan into the fire and quickly realized how good I actually had it in the army, the first few months I found myself struggling with rent arrears and living off food banks then over the years I would go from job to job staying in employment no longer than around 6 months at a time. I always wanted to succeed, I wanted to save up and learn a trade but that all changed in 2019 when I woke up one morning, put pen to paper and had the idea of Stags vs Hens, the first initial few months was all about setting up, I had put my money towards developing a website but then covid hid in early 2020 which put a huge strain on the business, I quickly found myself refunding customers, the business making no money and me working casual jobs in between to continue funding my ambition! It wasn’t until early 2021 when the business really started to take off and now because of a huge success and a turnover of £200k in 2021 that I am now expanding out into new destinations with the expectation to double the turnover for 2022!
Tom originally offered just Newcastle Upon Tyne as the go to destination for Hens and Stags but has since expanded the business into Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff, Brighton and Bristol having knowing how big those destinations are for the fantastic nights out and activities on offer for Hen and Stag groups!
Tom said: The whole purpose of Stags vs Hens is to provide a ‘one stop shop’ an easy and cost effective way of booking your Hen and Stag weekend without the hassle of trying to research your ideal destination to find the best suppliers and going direct to accommodation providers and activity providers and placing huge lump sums of money down for deposits as well as the Maids of Honor or Best men trying to collect all the money from the group. We typically work with the best accommodation and activity providers in the UK to provide the best priced packages whilst taking the strain from the customers by providing each customer with a payment link where we can monitor who has paid what in the party, our reviews speak for themselves really.
Because of setting up a business during covid I also wanted to make sure that the business was going to succeed whilst my competitors went broke, I quickly adapted and secured a trust account with the Protected Trust Services where all customer monies are held and protected at all times, this means that customer money does not go into our cashflow and we cant claim our profits until the booking physically goes ahead. The problem during the pandemic with businesses is that a lot of customers money was already spent by the businesses that they booked with and when customers were entitled to refunds the businesses which we were in direct competition with went broke and couldn’t afford to pay their creditors back for their arrangements which were cancelled, I think the trust account with Protected Trust Services is the most secure option and means that all our customers are financially protected if the worse was to ever happen.
