Lunn Poly was, at one time, the largest chain of
travel agents in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
History
The company originated from two successful travel agencies established in the 1890s, the
Polytechnic Touring Association and
Sir Henry Lunn Travel. Both firms were acquired in the 1950s by the
British Eagle airline group, and combined into Lunn Poly in 1965.
It became a nationalised industry as part of the
Transport Holding Company (THC). In June 1971, Sunair bought Lunn Poly from the THC for £175,000. In 1972, the company became part of
Thomson Travel Group
Thomson Travel Group plc was a business formed by the Thomson Corporation of Canada, when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. It was acquired by Preussag AG, an industrial and transport conglomerate, in 2000. The group continu ...
.
[
Lunn Poly became an early trade innovator, by splitting its leisure and business travel. High street shops concentrated on package holidays, specialized offices were structured to serve the needs of business and industry. This business model was highly successful throughout the 1970s and 1980s. By the mid-1990s it was the largest travel agency in the UK.][
When TUI UK, which had acquired Thomson Travel, rebranded Britannia Airways as Thomsonfly in November 2003, the company insisted that there were no plans to rebrand Lunn Poly. On 2 November 2004, however, the announcement was made that all 800 Lunn Poly shops in the ]United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
were to be rebranded as Thomson.[
Lunn Poly was famous for a long running advertising campaign on ]television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
. These commercials featured people looking into what holidays the company offered. Another person would then say to them in disbelief "Lunn Poly? Get away!", at which point the person would disappear into thin air and end up at a vacation spot.[</]