NEWS — HOT STORIES 2
Barrhead plans call centre to handle upmarket sales
Lucy Huxley
Barrhead Travel is to open a call centre with capacity for 100 staff in Glasgow by the end of this year to handle its increasing number of upmarket holiday sales. The Scottish agency this week also opened its tenth shop in Glasgow, with another to follow in the city in a few months’ time and two further branches in Edinburgh. Details of Barrhead’s expansion
plans came as the company prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary this summer, and as its founder and chairman, Bill Munro, was awarded the industry’s highest personal honour – membership of the British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame. Speaking on the morning
after his induction at London’s Dorchester Hotel, Munro said: “We have a lot going on this year. “Our newest shop in Glasgow
started trading about an hour ago, and we have more branches opening, plus a major new call centre which we’ll staff with people who are trained to sell higher-quality product. This is to reflect our move towards
selling more upmarket travel.” Munro (pictured) said Barrhead
would continue its recruitment policy of employing both experienced staff and apprentices. “It will continue to be a mix,” he added. “We take on about 100 apprentices a year and train them up, a bit like what Trailfinders and Audley Travel do.” Munro was one of seven inductees into the Hall of Fame this year. Other new members included Gerald Lawless of Jumeirah, Stanley Tolman of The Travel Corporation, Peter Kerkar of Cox & Kings and Stephen Kaufer of TripAdvisor. Princess Cruises head of sales Alex White was named Young Manager of the Year, beating Matthew Beckwith of City Cruises, Katie Lawrence of Hoseasons, Rebecca Maffeis of Lagrange Holidays, Mark McKenna of Expedia and Rob Veale of HotelshopUK.
3 Hollie-Rae Merrick
Fred Olsen Travel aims to double its profits in the next 18 months as it opens the first two of a planned string of shops in southern England. The agency said it was taking advantage of a “renaissance of people returning to the high street” by opening the two branches, in Lymington, Hampshire, and Westbourne, Dorset. The new locations, where rival agency Bath Travel has stores, are Fred Olsen Travel’s first away from its East Anglia base and will increase its network to 12 branches. Steve Williams, managing director, said the agency was on the acquisition trail for more sites and was looking to invest more than £100,000 to open a “cluster of six or seven shops on the south coast”. “This has been in the pipeline for quite some time,” Williams said. “The customer base on the south coast is very similar to what we have in Suffolk – a mature demographic and discerning customers. “We won’t stop with two because I think a cluster works a lot better. I’m hopeful we will have six or seven shops in that area within the next 18 months. “There is a renaissance of people coming back to the high
street because they are fed up with online. “However, you have to add value, and that’s what we do and why
we’ve had five years of record trading.” Williams said he would not have taken the plunge if he wasn’t passionate about the expanions plan. He believes he can double Fred Olsen Travel’s profits once all the planned stores have opened. Commenting on taking on Bath Travel, Williams said: “We have long been aware of what Bath Travel are all about and I’m a big admirer of what they do, so it’s exciting to be competing against them.”
16 April 2015 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 5
Jane Kolowski and Alison MacCarty open the new store in Lymington
Fred Olsen Travel opens first shops on south coast
“It’s exciting to
be competing against Bath Travel”
BOURNEMOUTH DAILY ECHO/RICHARD CREASE
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