This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
NEWS SPECIAL REPORT


Scottish agent Barrhead Travel’s first supplier conference saw 120 suppliers and agents meet at the luxury five-star Trump Turnberry hotel in Ayrshire. Lee Hayhurst reports


Barrhead recruits to beef up its management team


Barrhead Travel is headhunting to strengthen its senior management team as part of a major recruitment drive.


The Scottish agency is also


looking for product specialists to join its teams, and says it will continue to develop talent through its apprenticeship scheme. Barrhead has set itself the target


of one in five of its employees being apprentices within two to three years as it prioritises in- house staff development through its own training academy. Chairman Bill Munro said


apprentices are proving to be a huge success.


“Given the right mentoring, some of our apprentices go on to be absolute stars”


“We treat them properly and


make it work very well,” he said. “Ninety-nine per cent will go on


to get full-time jobs with us. “Given the right mentoring and hand-holding, some go on to be absolute stars within two to three years. We feel it’s a way of putting something back into society.” Munro added Barrhead needs


to strengthen its senior team to support expansion plans. “We’re not necessarily looking


to recruit travel people but individuals from other service industries with relevant expertise for the sector,” he said. The firm has introduced a


dedicated talent acquisition team and among the recent new recruits is head of sales Jane Ann McIleroy, who joined from Debenhams. Barrhead chief executive Sharon


BILL MUNRO: ‘We feel [apprentice- ships] are a way of putting something back into society’


16 travelweekly.co.uk 24 November 2016


Munro said there had been times this year when customer enquiries had to be turned away because the company did not have enough staff to deal with them. “Some stores are having to boost staff numbers due to demand,” she said. “We are also looking for people in specialist areas like marketing and web development as the business expands.” As well as store staff, the


travel agency has expanded its homeworker division with 15 new recruits having recently joined as salaried employees to support telesales and field web enquiries. Barrhead employs 900 people.


Agency unveils virtual reality headsets in store


Virtual reality headsets will be introduced into Barrhead stores as one of several sales and marketing initiatives. The firm has doubled the


size of its in-house marketing team, bringing in specialists in areas like social media. Chief executive Sharon


Munro said some larger stores will create dedicated areas for customers to use the virtual reality technology, along with big-screen televisions. Next year all stores will be


given access to the technology, which will feature supplier content promoting product like safari holidays, cruises and business-class aircraft cabins. “It’s all about the experience


for the customer,” said Munro. Barrhead says its marketing


is becoming more personalised by gathering more data on customers and using analytics to boost the relevancy of offers. The firm has just sealed a tie-up with Glasgow University to develop a new self-learning recommender system. This year Barrhead also launched a holiday finance scheme allowing spread payments.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76