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Hays-branded Just Go eyes 50 stores by 2020
Ben Ireland
ben.ireland@
travelweekly.co.uk
Hays Travel-branded miniple Just Go has set out ambitious expansion plans for a network of 50 high street stores in the next three years.
Known as Hays North West
since Hays Travel took a 40% stake in the agency in 2014, Just Go’s shop network across Merseyside, Cheshire and north Wales has since doubled to 28. In the last 12 months, it has
opened shops in Heswall, Rhyl, Widnes, Ormskirk, Southport, West Kirby, Colwyn Bay and the Allerton area of Liverpool. Managing director Don Bircham said he was looking at sites within Just Go’s Merseyside heartland in towns such as Hightown and Crosby to open more shops. A new store in St Helens
was “close to opening”, he added. Just Go has also relocated its Warrington store as part of its
Just Go sales director Lindsey Barber and Don Bircham at its Warrington store
expansion and acquired one- shop Stockton Heath Travel, near Warrington, which is to be rebranded as Hays Travel. The shops in the network, which
now has an annual turnover of £50 million, all have Hays Travel above the door. Bircham said: “We must be the
fastest-growing travel agency in the UK and we see no reason why we can’t get to 50 stores within the next two to three years. “Independent travel agents have gone through a really prosperous period. We all seem to be doing really well at the moment.” Just Go launched in 2000 and
was a franchise of Tui from 2006 to 2014, when its contract ended. “Since we joined Hays, it’s like
we’ve been taken off the leash,” said Bircham. “We tap into Hays’ infrastructure, which keeps central costs very low. “There’s definitely room for
more independent agencies in the
northwest.” › Jet2 awards, page 15
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Loveholidays team at Travolution Awards
STORIES HOT
Search is ‘key’ for Loveholidays
Harry Kemble
harry.kemble@
travelweekly.co.uk
Loveholidays says its ‘destination-less’ search is the key to maintaining its rapid growth after landing two major plaudits in a week.
The online travel agent retained its place in the Sunday Times Fast Track top 10 list of fastest-growing UK companies after posting average sales increases of 120% over the past three years. It also scooped the Best Travel
Agent Website and Brand of the Year gongs at this year’s Travolution Awards, run by the travel technology-focused sister title of Travel Weekly. Loveholidays was the only travel
firm in the Sunday Times list, which chief executive Alex Francis described as a “lovely accolade”. Customers search Loveholidays’
website by what they want to do on their getaway, rather than by destination. They can filter the results further by price and date. Chief executive Alex Francis said: “We are always looking to
make that search better to allow the customer to find that perfect holiday for themselves.” He added: “Being the only travel company in the [Sunday Times] list is massive. It is hard to maintain that level of growth. “It is nice to be recognised by the industry and our peers at the Travolution Awards too. “Hopefully we can continue to
keep this going into 2018.” The OTA this year leapfrogged
Travel Republic to become the seventh-largest Atol-holder, after being founded just five years ago. “It has been a good end to the
year for us,” said Francis. “Last year was tough and so was the beginning of this year.” Despite putting his company’s
success down to a 223-strong team, Francis insisted he had no plans to expand his workforce in 2018. “We do not have any plans to
expand [staff] numbers,” he said. “We just want to make the technology more automated
and efficient.” › Travolution Awards 2017: three-page special, back page
7 December 2017
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