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Hays ‘careful’ about future growth plans
Hollie-Rae Merrick
hollie@travelweekly.co.uk
2 Hays Travel will be
more “careful and cautious” about its growth plans following the vote to leave the EU.
John Hays, managing director of the 135-strong agency chain, said the decision to leave the EU had left him feeling “dismayed, and extremely sad on behalf of the country’s younger people”. He said he was a lot less optimistic about the state of the industry following the vote, adding that it was inevitable that the travel industry would feel a knock-on effect from the Brexit vote, with a likely dip in the economy resulting in consumers having less discretionary spend. He predicted “a lot of uncertainty in the medium term”, with the weakening of the pound “reflecting a vote by the rest of the world that the UK economy isn’t going to be in great shape”. “The only thing we can do is get on with it,” he said. “In my
JOHN HAYS We’ll have to be more careful,
cautious and conscious of how the economy is performing and hope that the effect isn’t as bad as it could be.
eyes it’s regrettable that this has happened, but this is where we are and we have to accept it. I feel so incredibly sad about it all.” Asked whether the decision
would slow expansion for Hays Travel, he said: “We just need to make sure we are very careful. “We’ll have to be more careful, cautious and conscious of how the economy is performing and hope that the effect isn’t as bad as it could be. “I’m a lot less optimistic about things than I was a week ago. I can’t believe how 24 hours can change everything for the country.” Sales following the vote were
“OK”, according to Hays, but he admitted: “It wasn’t a wow over the weekend, but at the same time it didn’t fall off the edge of a cliff.”
Currency sales soar due to ‘panic buying’
Hollie-Rae Merrick and Juliet Dennis
3 Travel agencies
reported a leap in exchange sales around the vote, with online ordering services suspended due to unprecedented demand.
Holidaymakers began “panic
buying” foreign currency after the pound dropped to its lowest rate against the dollar since 1985 following the vote to leave the EU. Thomas Cook and Hays Travel
halted their click and collect online ordering services as demand soared from clients trying to get the best deal during Thursday night and Friday morning. Cook temporarily pulled its
click and collect cash service after online orders rose. Euros were available only through high street branches. The service was operating as normal on Monday. A spokeswoman said: “We have a good supply of euros across our network. This follows a temporary period of being offline due to unprecedented demand for currency after the referendum.” Hays reported record sales of foreign exchange last Wednesday and Thursday
ahead of the referendum result. Managing director John Hays said customers logged on to secure currency at Thursday’s rate while the pound was plummeting. He said: “Savvy people were securing currency early and we experienced a few problems online with people buying currency between 2am and 7am on Friday morning.” Hays suspended its service on
Friday and said it would remain switched off “until the economy stabilises”. He declined to reveal how much
money was lost as a result of honouring the rate, but described it as “a minor sum of money”. Miles Morgan Travel owner Miles Morgan said the agency chain kept selling out of euros. “I was not surprised by what
was going on in the week because the rate was climbing,” he said. “But I was surprised by strong sales on Friday and Saturday. It tends to indicate people are worried the rate will drop lower.” Advantage Travel Partnership managing director Julia Lo Bue- Said added: “Bureaux de change sales are up: that may be panic buying.” The pound’s value fell from €1.31 on Thursday to €1.21 on Tuesday.
BREXIT NEWS: pages 4-6, 8-11, 19, 30 and 70 30 June 2016
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