ARTICLE
An award winning night for Holiday Architects
Last Thursday was one of those evenings we'll be talking about for a long time.A good number of the Holiday Architects team stepped away from our laptops and holiday planning, donned our glad rags and headed to the C2S Growth Consultancy Awards at Cheltenham Racecourse, while Andy was making his way to London for the Best Workplaces in Travel Awards.By the end of the night, we found ourselves celebrating four shiny accolades across two different ceremonies.
We were Highly Commended for Team of the Year at the C2S Growth Consultancy Awards, alongside some fantastic Gloucestershire businesses doing incredible things.We were also finalists in the Customer Excellence category. (Not too shabby when you make the final six from 500+ entries!)
Team HA at the C2S Awards, Cheltenham Racecourse, 2026
The Best Workplaces in Travel Awards celebrate the travel companies that are creating exceptional places to work – recognising businesses that invest in their people, build positive cultures and create environments where everyone can thrive. The awards are based on anonymous surveys sent to all team members, designed to dig into what they really feel about working here.And we were honoured to scoop the following…
The Award for HappinessWe won the Happiness Award, recognising organisations that have created a workplace where people genuinely enjoy coming to work, feel supported, and feel part of something bigger. As a business built on human connection, that's one we're especially proud of.
The Award for Equity & InclusionWe also bagged the Equity & Inclusion Award, which celebrates companies that are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued and able to be themselves.
Highly Commended all roundTo also be Highly Commended in the Small Company category, recognising our workplace culture as a whole, really was the icing on the cake.
Needless to say, there were a few celebratory messages flying around our team WhatsApp that evening.What could be better than winning an award for happiness?!...
Andy with our awards at the Best Workplaces in Travel
Scooping an award for being the happy souls we are.
Andy about to head up to collect the gong
As a travel company, people often assume the best part of our job is the destinations. And don't get us wrong – we absolutely love designing extraordinary holidays.But none of that happens without the people behind them.Every itinerary, every reassuring phone call, every recommendation, every last-minute problem solved while a client is travelling... it's all made possible by a team of people who genuinely care. And that's what makes these awards feel so special.They don't recognise a marketing campaign or a sales target. They recognise the culture we've spent years building; a place where people feel supported, trusted and included. HA is a place where everyone is encouraged to be themselves, share ideas and look after one another - and maintaining that will always be top of the priority list.Because, when our team enjoy coming to work, our clients feel the difference too.
We are quite a happy bunch...
Celebrating at the Cheltenham Racecourse
We're incredibly grateful to everyone involved in both awards, and to the judges for recognising what we've worked so hard to build.Congratulations as well to all of the brilliant businesses and travel companies recognised alongside us. It was a privilege to celebrate with so many inspiring people.Most of all, thank you to our wonderful team. Holiday Architects has never been about one person. It's built on dozens of people bringing their knowledge, kindness, humour and passion to work every single day.We're lucky to work with people who care deeply about the countries they specialise in, the local partners they work with and, most importantly, the clients who trust us with something so precious.These awards belong to every single one of them.
Team HA at the C2S Awards, 2026
Array
(
[0] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => Celebrating at C2S 2026
[thumb] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2025/10/01/_spmedia_thumbs/fort-canning.jpeg
[width] => 1536
[height] => 2048
)
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/img_7242.jpg
[height] => 4284
[width] => 5712
[alt] =>
)
[alt] =>
[item_type] => image
[caption] => Celebrating at C2S 2026
)
[1] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => Gabby, Erin and Ian Celebrating at C2S 2026
[thumb] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2025/10/01/_spmedia_thumbs/fort-canning-2.jpeg
[width] => 1536
[height] => 2048
)
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/img_7255.jpg
[height] => 4032
[width] => 3024
[alt] =>
)
[alt] =>
[item_type] => image
[caption] => Gabby, Erin and Ian Celebrating at C2S 2026
)
[2] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => Team celebrations all smiles
[thumb] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2025/10/01/_spmedia_thumbs/maxwells.jpeg
[width] => 1536
[height] => 2048
)
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/img_7299-2.jpg
[height] => 4896
[width] => 3672
[alt] =>
)
[alt] =>
[item_type] => image
[caption] => Team celebrations all smiles
[image_focus] => top
)
[3] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => Erin and Gabby at C2S
[thumb] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2025/10/01/_spmedia_thumbs/maxwells-gyoza.jpeg
[width] => 1536
[height] => 2048
)
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/img_7270.jpg
[height] => 4896
[width] => 3672
[alt] =>
)
[alt] =>
[item_type] => image
[caption] => Erin and Gabby at C2S
)
[4] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => C2S Celebrations
[item_type] => image
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/img_7277.jpg
[height] => 4896
[width] => 3672
[alt] =>
)
[video] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[thumbnail] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[video_aria_label] => Hit space to toggle, play or pause video
[video_loop] => 0
[image_focus] => center
[caption] => C2S Celebrations
)
[5] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => Radders with our Highly Commended Award
[item_type] => image
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/img_7341.jpg
[height] => 4284
[width] => 5712
[alt] =>
)
[video] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[thumbnail] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[video_aria_label] => Hit space to toggle, play or pause video
[video_loop] => 0
[image_focus] => center
[caption] => Radders with our Highly Commended Award
)
[6] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => Award winning Joy
[item_type] => image
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/img_7314.jpg
[height] => 4032
[width] => 3024
[alt] =>
)
[video] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[thumbnail] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[video_aria_label] => Hit space to toggle, play or pause video
[video_loop] => 0
[image_focus] => center
[caption] => Award winning Joy
)
[7] => stdClass Object
(
[title] => Scrubbing up well at C2S Awards
[item_type] => image
[full] => stdClass Object
(
[src] => images/2026/07/08/ce105bdc-694b-4b1d-847c-3f3b49c91f25-2.jpg
[height] => 1444
[width] => 1535
[alt] =>
)
[video] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[thumbnail] => stdClass Object
(
[src] =>
)
[video_aria_label] => Hit space to toggle, play or pause video
[video_loop] => 0
[image_focus] => center
[caption] => Scrubbing up well at C2S Awards
)
)
A joyful gallery from an award-winning night
Team HA around the table at the C2S Awards, 2026
Sixteen years ago, Holiday Architects started with a simple idea: that travel should be personal, and that genuine human connection matters. And that belief still shapes everything we do today.Whether we're helping someone plan the holiday they've dreamed about for years or supporting a colleague through a difficult week, it's always about people first.Winning these awards is something we're incredibly proud of. (And celebrating them is something we’ll always be naturals at…)But as you read this, we'll already be back doing what we love most… helping you discover the world, one tailor-made holiday at a time.And we wouldn't have it any other way.
Cheers to what's next for Holiday Architects!
Thinking about your next holiday?
Our team of (happy!) experts are here to help.
Get a Quote 01242 253 073Open Mon-Fri: 9am-5:30pm
We'd love to keep in touch.
Sign up to get our latest team news, travel tips and holiday inspiration straight to your inbox.