The Nomad Story
1991
Our first brick-and-mortar Nomad premises on bustling Turnpike Lane in North London opened – complete with an on-site pharmacy. For the first time, travellers had a one-stop shop to prepare for adventures. Everything from their kit to their medicines. With an in-house pharmacist, we were able to make medical kits and supply medicines. We had a made a little home for like-minded travel obsessives and the journey had begun…
1992
Our on-site pharmacy proved a hit with travellers around North London. We not only made small medical kits for backpackers, but more and more large teams on longer trips come to us for huge medical kits. We could put together a medical kit for 20 people on a 6 month expedition, if needed, and word spread in the industry. We supplied organisations we hugely respected like Dragoman, Acacia, Absolute Africa, Trekforce on long expeditions with complex requirements. Partnerships, and friendships, were forged in our first years that have endured until today.
1993
Our travel store was filled with all the best kit available. However, we knew from our own adventures that some kit we wanted just wasn’t available or wasn’t up to standard. Around this time, a professor at the forefront of tropical medicine research, and Nomads head Pharmacist, had discovered that mosquito nets were far more effective when treated with an insecticide called Permethrin. We set about searching for manufacturers that could prototype our kit ideas and produce high quality bite avoidance products.
We produced our own insect repellents based off our cutting edge research. Mosquito nets were produced in Thailand at a quality not seen in the UK before. We treated our own brand nets with Permethrin, making them highly effective even in the most teeming, dense jungles.
We also found a manufacturer who could make the first iteration of our iconic Tropical Hammock. Made from durable, double layered cloth, it was really comfortable and had built in protective netting. Super lightweight, it could pack down small enough to fit in a backpack. Lightweight hammocks available at the time were made from string – offering no comfort & no bite protection! The Tropical Hammock was a real game changer.
1994
Our on-site pharmacy proved a hit with travellers around North London. We not only made small medical kits for backpackers, but more and more large teams on longer trips come to us for huge medical kits. We could put together a medical kit for 20 people on a 6 month expedition, if needed, and word spread in the industry. We supplied organisations we hugely respected like Dragoman, Acacia, Absolute Africa, Trekforce on long expeditions with complex requirements. Partnerships, and friendships, were forged in our first years that have endured until today.
1995
We opened our first central London location – Russell Square. We could provide travel equipment and health advice to countless more travellers – convieniently close to offices and retailers in the centre of the city.
Further afield, Nomads completed a trek in Botswana. As ever, there was kit to be put through it’s paces, so adventure was necessary! What better way than overland across Botswana’s salt flats.
1996
We designed our first catalogue to spread the word about our unique travel clinics and our own range of travel kit. We knew our service was one-of-a-kind – we now had a way to showcase that!
1997
Getting online was a necessity for brands like ours. Nomad launched our first website so clients could more easily book travel health consultations and purchase travel kit for delivery to anywhere.
We took on a small warehouse space with offices, which became our Head Office, production and distribution centre. We had the space to store large amounts of the kit we manufactured and to fulfill ecommerce orders.
1998
We opened our first Bristol location, inside a popular travel agent. The city was a huge potential market for us, with a high population of adventure travellers and TV & film production companies that we knew would benefit from our bespoke medical kit service and one-stop approach to travel preparation.
2001
Wanting to put our expertise to good use Nomad got involved in a charity clinic project at Karmi Farm, India. Nomads travelled to Darjeeling to help setup a clinic for the local community. Locals now had somewhere close to home to get medical treatment rather than spend hours travelling to the next nearest medical centre. Nomad donated medical supplies & medicines to help keep the clinic stocked with first aid.
2005
Our Bristol clinic had grown too much for it’s modest location. We moved to our own large premises with four cinics on bustling Park Street. We could now help more of the ever increasing number of Bristolians preparing for expeditions, holidays and backpacking adventures.
Clinics were full in London, too, and our customers were calling out for more travel health appointments in the city. We opened Victoria, our first south of the Thames, providing ever more travel health consultations for Londoners.
2007
We expanded North, opening our doors in Manchester, an exciting new location for us to build a base. With a large location in the city centre, we built one of our biggest & best travel clinics yet (right) with a large range of travel kit and medical supplies.
2008
A financial crash struck, pummelling many and causing a collective tightening of the purse strings. Travel for leisure was not going to be in budget for as many as we were used to. To make it through, we invested our efforts in our wholesale and account services for business clients.
We worked hard marketing ourselves in industries that were dispatching employees internationally. We provided travel health consultations, vaccinations, prescription medicines and wholesale repellents & kit – with in-house Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists providing the most expert and in-depth travel health advice. Employers relied on Nomad to prepare their teams for any possible health risks on international trips they needed to make.
2021
We took a deep look at our customer base and the market post financial crash. We couldn’t compete with the online superstores offering travel kit at the lowest possible prices and scaled back our kit supply. Our medical expertise and heritage really set us apart, however, and we knew we should be more focussed than ever on building clinics and expanding our medical services.
We were now on the radar of a more luxury traveller, looking to get fully protected for catered beach holidays and luxury safaris. Aligning perfectly with this group were our new partner – a luxury travel agent based in the City of London. We set up a clinic in their attractive basement space, and prepared their clientele for upcoming trips with vaccinations, medicines & bite prevention. We welcomed a new type of traveller with different needs to our usual adventurers & backpackers, but with an equal taste for adventure in far flung destinations.
2008
A financial crash struck, pummelling many and causing a collective tightening of the purse strings. Travel for leisure was not going to be in budget for as many as we were used to. To make it through, we invested our efforts in our wholesale and account services for business clients.
We worked hard marketing ourselves in industries that were dispatching employees internationally. We provided travel health consultations, vaccinations, prescription medicines and wholesale repellents & kit – with in-house Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists providing the most expert and in-depth travel health advice. Employers relied on Nomad to prepare their teams for any possible health risks on international trips they needed to make.
Bringing together a Pharmacy, clinic & well tested range of travel kit, we had created an unmatched one-stop service for travellers. Opening locations nationwide, we have been able to help thousands of travellers every year prepare for adventure
We’ve built a medical team comprising some of the leading academics and physicians in travel health, enabling us to create a truly comprehensive training programme for our travel nurses. You’ll always get the best possible advice, backed by the most up to date information
Always looking to innovate & simplify travel health for adventurers, we took our pharmacy online. It couldn’t be easier to get prescription travel medicines sent directly to you
Our expert pharmacists have created an unbeatable range of specially designed medical kits for travel. We really have put all of our kits through their paces on our many adventures, and we constantly review the latest travel health research to stay one step ahead
From our leading medical executives, to our friendly store teams, we’re all passionate about travel and invested in getting you ready for your trip. Whether it’s a trek in Nepal, a relaxed break in the Caribbean or an around the world backpacking trip – you can rely on us to know what you’ll need
Andrew Lewis
CEO
Andrew Lewis is CEO of Nomad Travel Group (including Nomad Travel & Masta Ltd). Andrew is a qualified accountant and has worked in the travel health sector for 15 years developing and growing business in Ireland and the UK. Andrew led the acquisition of Nomad Travel in 2016 and Masta in June 2023.
Jason Gibbs
Head of Medical
Jason joined Nomad in 1999, completing the post graduate diploma in Travel Medicine shortly after. An enthusiastic independent traveller he spends his days in the pharmacy designing and preparing medical kits for expeditions, maintaining the pharmaceutical supply chain to the Nomad clinics and creating bespoke kits.
Dr Kunal Patel
Travel Health Physician
Dr Patel lectures internationally on the interface between technology, health education & training. His extensive work within the international development sector, forming partnerships and developing research, has been instrumental for primary care system strengthening and in advocating for greater health education globally.
