Agencies to reopen from Monday JULY 4


Independent travel agencies will be among the non-essential retailers returning to the high street next week for the first time since the start of the lockdown. Juliet Dennis reports


Caption


For the first time in 12 weeks, some agents will be sitting behind their desks in high street stores next week. In most cases there will be a


maximum of one or two staff per store operating a closed-door policy, offering appointments only. Despite this, the phased return


to a “new normal” following the lockdown has been welcomed by agents eager to get back to finding holidays for clients instead of wading through refunds and rebookings. “I’m raring to go,” said Tivoli


Travel director Jo Richards, who plans to open one of her three branches on June 15 on an appointment-only, one-in-one-out basis, with socially distanced desks but no screens. “At times it’s been really tense in


the lockdown,” she said. “Now we can focus on going forward.” In Northern Ireland, Limavady


Travel will reopen on Monday for appointments on future travel


Date by which Fred Olsen Travel aims to reopen all 14 of its stores


bookings. The store has screens, extra desks and face masks that match uniforms. Agency owner Hazel Simpson said: “I can’t wait.” For bigger agencies, with more


staff and stores, preparation has involved extensive planning. Paul Hardwick, head of


commercial at 14-branch Fred Olsen Travel, will test demand by manning the group’s department store concession in Norwich on his own from June 15 “to see what footfall is like and if customers want to come back in”. The East Anglia-based agency


has 45 staff on furlough and plans to SNAPSHOT OF SHOP REOPENINGS


Advantage: 60% of consortium’s members plan to open on June 15 Bailey’s Travel: From July Carrick Travel: Eight out of 11 branches from June 15, behind closed doors Fred Olsen Travel: Norwich branch on June 15; Ipswich and some others on June 22; remainder on June 29. All 14 branches by July 4 Kuoni: From August Limavady Travel, Northern Ireland: June 15 Millington Travel: From July More Travel: June 15 Spear Travels: Six stores from June 29, six from July 6; all closed doors The Travel Network Group: Most agencies plan to reopen in July or August, according to consortium’s recent membership survey The Travel Village: July Tivoli Travel: Mirfield branch on June 15. Other two branches at later date Triangle Travel: Ready for next week but more likely in July


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Ready for business: Limavady Travel (above) and Fred Olsen Travel


open its other branches during June with closed-door policies, with the rest opening by July 4. They will begin with one agent


per branch, but that could rise to two from July, Hardwick said. Each store will have ‘mobile’ desk


screens for added protection, but the decision to use these will rest with managers. Face coverings for staff have been ordered but will not be compulsory. In the longer term, Hardwick


expects some staff to continue working from home as the size of stores will not allow for all to return within social distancing guidelines. But he is confident of demand on the high street. Spear Travels chairman Peter


Cookson said demand had picked up in the past week. “One branch manager has done as many new bookings in one day this week from home as they did in the whole of May,” he said. Most agencies are keen to use the government’s furlough scheme for as


11 JUNE 2020


long as they can, with staffing levels dependent on demand. Carrick Travel will operate an


appointment service via its website as it “slowly” returns to shops, said director Tracey Carter. She said staff numbers depended


on details of part-time furlough working and updated travel advice. But not all agencies plan a


swift high street return, with many planning for July or August. Millington Travel owner Nigel


Armitage said: “We’re taking our time this month, preparing the stores, making sure we follow guidelines, doing risk assessments and buying essential items.” Kuoni said August was “the


earliest” that stores would reopen and that customers were “very happy” with the service offered by its virtual call centre. Managing director Derek Jones said demand was “picking up” but was “nowhere near where we’d expect it to be” in order to reopen.


travelweekly.co.uk


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