Swimming with Dolphin

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Dolphin Travel operates a fleet of 22 Bovas all but one of which are Futuras. ANDY IZATT

Mel Cooke and his team at Dolphin Travel outline to Andy Izatt how entrepreneurial thinking, loyalty and family values lie behind the firm’s continuing success

Not many Managing Directors have an office quite like Mel Cooke’s at Norwich-based Dolphin Travel. It’s an Aladdin’s cave crammed with mementos from his and the Cooke family’s past. Press a button below the moose head, a gift, that’s hanging on the wall, and it will sing for you while the way the skeleton standing by Mel’s desk is adorned is guaranteed to bring a smile to anyone entering the room.

Mel, the second generation of the Cooke family to run Dolphin, is very much a people person who appreciates loyalty and believes in the importance of family values. He’s also a shrewd entrepreneur to which the growth of the business under his leadership is testament. […]

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