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Barrhead eyes stores in Bristol and Southampton
Jennifer Morris
jennifer.morris@
travelweekly.co.uk
Barrhead Travel chairman Bill Munro has been scouting for new shops in Bristol and Southampton in the next stage of its expansion into England.
The 56-strong agency chain opened a shop in Newcastle last October and Munro has previously cited Manchester and Leeds as key targets. A move to the south coast would see Barrhead go head-to-
head with the likes of Hays Travel. Munro said the plans were part of Barrhead’s ambitions to have 1,000 agents working across the UK. The company currently employs 850 people. The hunt for suitable premises
comes just a month after Travel Weekly revealed that Barrhead would consider external investment to help grow its business in England. While he wouldn’t reveal
exactly how many shops he’d like to open, chief executive Sharon Munro said she could “absolutely” see Barrhead having a similar
STORIES HOT
Bill Munro and Sharon Munro with Barrhead staff
presence in England to that in Scotland over time. Bill Munro said: “We’re looking
at everywhere in England – the length and breadth – and we’ll obviously go for the low-hanging fruit first. I’ve been down in Bristol and Southampton; we’re looking at Leeds; you name it – all over. “We’re looking to open a large number of shops and in areas where we can recruit and retrain staff into our way of working. “We will buy and build without a doubt – both existing smaller travel agencies and tour operators,
as well as new premises.” Munro stressed that the business is “not for sale”.
“If someone came along wishing
to speed growth plans by investing in the business then we would probably welcome them,” he said. “But we’ve got plenty of money
and profits in the business; 2015 was the most profitable year yet.” Barrhead will release its latest accounts in the coming weeks and Munro said he believed the company’s strong performance is “mainly down to reaching critical mass” and strong management.
3 ‘Orlando needs support after attack’
Hollie-Rae Merrick
hollie@travelweekly.co.uk
Agents and operators are being urged to “rally round” and support Orlando and customers booked to travel there following a massacre at a gay nightclub that left 49 people dead.
Dozens more were injured when Omar Mateen began shooting in Pulse nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning. It is the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Harry Hastings, co-chief
executive at Ocean Beds, said a small number of customers had been in contact. He added: “We are shell-shocked and deeply saddened by the events in Orlando. We are listening to and reassuring any customers who have questions or concerns in the UK and at our Florida-based welcome centre. “We intend to deal with these
on a very personal basis and I’d encourage agents and operators who are dealing with enquiries from customers to do the same.” John Donnelly, managing
director of Co-operative Florida
Holidays, said the impact of the attack on customers was yet to be determined, but he urged agents to “get behind Florida 110%”. He said many agents would see
Florida as “their bread and butter”. Donnelly added: “Agents play a
very important role in reassuring customers and those that haven’t booked through an agent won’t have that reassurance. We need to rally behind Orlando and Florida and support the destination.” Among those killed was 22-year- old Luis Vielma, who worked on the Harry Potter ride at Universal.
National media reported an
increase in security at theme parks in Florida this week. A spokeswoman at Disney said it had been “increasing security measures across our properties for some time”, while Universal said security remained a top priority. Visit Orlando president and
chief executive George Aguel said: “The outpouring of support from across the globe and our commitment to providing a safe environment gives us confidence that we will remain a destination of choice for visitors.”
16 June 2016
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