Jobs to go at Barrhead, Flight Centre, Hoseasons


Juliet Dennis


Barrhead Travel, Flight Centre, Polka Dot Travel, Hoseasons and cottages.com are among the latest travel companies to announce job cuts and office closures. Barrhead Travel, which has 49


of its own shops and 46 run by its Managed Service Travel Partners, has begun a consultation process, saying it must “become leaner” to recover from the impact of Covid-19. The agency, primarily based


in Scotland but with branches throughout the UK, was in the midst of the biggest expansion in its history before the pandemic hit. A spokeswoman could not confirm


the number of jobs at risk, in roles across the business, but said there would be no “collective redundancies” – a legal term for 20 or more proposed redundancies. Leisure commercial manager Suzanne Halil is among those to have been made redundant. President Jacqueline Dobson


said: “We have taken measures to preserve as many jobs as possible and minimise redundancies. I have every confidence we will come back strongly when the industry recovers.”


Flight Centre is looking at replacing


some shops with a virtual network of travel consultants and “associates”. The agency is reopening 12 of its


78 branches and will retain “a strong concentrated presence of stores in the southeast”. A spokeswoman said Flight Centre had to consider “some very difficult business decisions”. Polka Dot Travel confirmed the


departures of Jenny Lyons, Aislinn Tilsley and Abby Dunn, who joined the 20-branch agency last year to lead its sales and marketing departments. Around 150 jobs are at risk at


Hoseasons and cottages.com after parent Awaze announced plans to move its UK headquarters to


Manchester and close sites in Earby, Exeter, Lancashire, Dartmouth, Grassington and Leyburn. In total, 300 staff are under


consultation, with plans to relocate some roles into homeworking and move others to the new hub in Manchester, which is to open by October 1. The company’s Lowestoft office will become a contact centre and recruit some new staff. Awaze chief executive Henrik Kjellberg said the changes were not to cut costs. Beachcomber Tours regional sales


manager Rupert Diggins has also announced he is taking voluntary


redundancy from the operator. i Redundancy advice, page 12


Intrepid Travel plans UK’s first


National Travel Agent Day Intrepid Travel is launching the UK’s first National Travel Agent Day, on Friday, July 24, and has invited all suppliers to “join in celebrating the valuable role agents play in supporting the UK travel industry and holidaymakers”. The celebration of agents is to take place annually on the last Friday of the UK summer school term, said Intrepid’s EMEA managing director Zina Bencheikh. Similar days exist in the US, Canada and Australia.


8 9 JULY 2020 McCreadie to take up new role


at If Only as Freeth steps down If Only chief executive Andy Freeth (pictured) is to step down at the end of the month after two years at the luxury operator. Product and distribution director Gordon McCreadie will “take charge” in a newly created role of general manager. Freeth and McCreadie joined If Only in 2018, moving from Gold Medal and Travel 2. If Only was acquired by Elegant Resorts owner Portman Travel Group in 2019.


Hurtigruten set to be first line back with UK sailings


Hurtigruten it to make its ex-UK debut in September, making it the first line to sail out of the British Isles since the coronavirus crisis forced cruise cancellations. The hybrid battery-powered


ship Roald Amundsen will operate the series of short-break itineraries, with departures from Portsmouth from September 2, Liverpool from September 7 and Glasgow from September 12. Itineraries take in destinations


including the Isles of Scilly, Fowey, Isle of Man, Rathlin Island, Fort William, Oban, Fishguard and


Waterford, Ireland. Roald Amundsen will operate


at a reduced maximum capacity of 350 passengers – about 65% of total berths – with prices from £999. The ship was launched last year. The sailings are in addition


to the Norwegian company’s previously announced year-round programme from Dover, which


begins in March 2021. Q P&O Cruises has sold 1,950-passenger ship Oceana to an unnamed buyer, meaning it will not sail under the line’s flag again. Passengers with Oceana bookings will be offered a 125% P&O future cruise credit or a refund. P&O sailings have been suspended until October 15.


Tailor Made Travel and JTA


target Travel 2 staff in Glasgow Welsh agency Tailor Made Travel and trade- only operator JTA Travel Group are looking to hire staff who may be facing redundancy as a result of the potential closure of Travel 2’s Glasgow office as part of a merger with sister operator Gold Medal. Tailor Made has set up an office in Glasgow to recruit homeworkers and look at retail opportunities, while JTA is considering reopening its Glasgow office and offering roles in sales, finance and operations.


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURE: Shutterstock


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