NEWS — HOT STORIES 2
Hays Travel invests £3m to ‘modernise’ 60 Bath stores
Hollie-Rae Merrick
The Hays Group will invest £3 million revamping Bath Travel’s 60 stores over the next three years as the chain looks to attract a younger client base. Fourteen of Bath Travel’s agencies will be completely overhauled before Christmas and six more will have foreign exchange counters added. John Hays, managing director
and owner of Bath Travel and Hays Travel, said the Bath stores were of a varying standard but he was keen to give them “the same look and feel as Hays Travel shops”. Explaining why it was important
to “breathe new life” into the Bath stores, Hays said: “I’ve been delighted with the performance of Bath Travel since we acquired it last year. The clientele is a bit older than Hays, but it is important we get younger clients. “We’re already starting to
attract that younger client base because we’ve introduced a [radio] jingle and taken on 40 apprentices, but [the refit] is the next step. “I believe our Hays Travel
branches are the most attractive, smartest shops on the high street and we want Bath Travel to have the same look and feel. “It is a great brand; we don’t
want to take anything away from it. We’re just keen to modernise the brand and breathe new life into it.”
The colour scheme of the Bath stores will change, with its red carpets and dark wood furniture replaced. Half of
Bath’s branches have foreign exchange counters, but 75% will have them by the end of the three-year refit. Hays Travel opened a store in
Redcar, North Yorkshire, last week, and has identified 10 more towns for possible expansion. Hays is also still looking at
further growth opportunities having taken a 40% stake in 14-branch miniple Just Go, which officially began operating under the Hays name on October 1.
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From left: Jason Tuatara, Angela Brooks, Richard Slater, Helen Furlong and Paul Wells, all The PTAs, in Torremolinos
Profitable Midcounties tells its PTAs: We’re here to stay
Juliet Dennis in Torremolinos
The Midcounties Co-operative’s retail travel business is set to enjoy its most profitable year for at least a decade and is in business “for the long term”, according to chief executive Ben Reid. Speaking at the annual conference of the group’s personal travel
agents – The PTAs – in Torremolinos, Reid told the homeworking division the society was in a strong position financially to survive. Group turnover of between £1.3 billion and £ 1.4 billion is forecast for the financial year ending January 31, 2015, with profits predicted to hit £17 million. Reid said: “We are the largest independent co-operative society [in the UK]. We [the retail travel business] will have our most profitable year since we sold Holiday Hypermarkets about 10 years ago. “That gives us the strength to say we are in it for the
long term – you can trust us to be here for a long time.” Reid reassured agents the society could weather any
industry failures. He said: “There are so many ‘puffed up’ businesses in travel that live off cash flow and get caught out. But whatever happens in the industry, we can take it.” Referring specifically to the future of The PTAs, Reid hinted at
growth opportunities for the homeworking group when rivals fail. “We know some of our competitors will not be there in the long
term and in the next few years we will be able to fill a big space in the homeworking business,” he said. Reid gave the group update as the society announced 39
redundancies, two in its travel division, as part of a review of its central operations. However, many are expected to apply for 32 newly-created roles, one of which is in travel. The two roles affected in the travel division are in central operations and customer services. ❯ Full PTA 2014 conference report in next week’s Travel Weekly
30 October 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 5
“We’re keen to modernise
the brand and breathe new life into it”
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