Hays Travel Chair Dame Irene Hays has recalled buying Thomas Cook’s entire portfolio of shops five years ago today and says that, even with the benefit of hindsight and knowing a global pandemic was around the corner, she’d do it all again.
Dame Irene and husband John, who founded Hays Travel, were dubbed the ‘heroes of the high street’ when they announced they had snapped up Thomas Cook’s retail portfolio of 555 shops, after the travel giant went bust on 23 September 2019.
On an appearance on BBC1’s The One Show, it was suggested to John and Irene that they were ‘bold, brave or bonkers’, for taking on the shops and more than trebling their retail estate overnight, from 190 – mainly in the north of England – to 745 around the UK.
In the weeks that followed, Hays Travel carried out a recruitment drive to interview and offer re-employment opportunities to as many former Thomas Cook colleagues as possible.
Hays Travel also responded to the Civil Aviation Authority’s request to help support the thousands of Thomas Cook customers in destination or with holidays booked, following its compulsory liquidation on 23 September.
Dame Irene said: “We were all devastated by the Thomas Cook news, there were so many excellent people at Thomas Cook and John and I knew we wanted to help. We initially looked at a few branches, then decided it was tactically better to bid for them all, which we did on 8 October. A day later we were awarded a licence to operate the entire Thomas Cook retail estate.”
Fourteen weeks after buying Thomas Cook’s shops, the COVID pandemic meant no-one could travel and Hays Travel went from posting a £4.9 million profit in October 2019 to a £34.2m loss in April 2021, because of its commitment to refund bookings.
Hays Travel has been back in the black for the past three years, with audited accounts this month showing the group’s total transaction value (TTV) in the year ended 30 April 2024 was £2.55 billion, up 17% on the same period in 2023 (£2.19bn). Group profit before tax (PBT) was £73.4m, an increase of 43% on 30 April 2023 (£51.5m).
Dame Irene added: “No one could have predicted a global pandemic when we took on Thomas Cook, but even with hindsight I would do it all again. It’s thanks to the effort and resilience of our Hays Travel colleagues and the many colleagues who joined us from Thomas Cook that we were able to care for our customers during lockdown, and were here to help them travel again, as soon as the restrictions were lifted.”
Since 2019, Hays Travel has acquired the Explorer Franchise in 2021, Just Go’s 45 northwest branches and Travel House’s 16 shops in south Wales in 2023; followed by three Holiday With Us branches in Lincolnshire, and 19 Miles Morgan Travel shops in the southwest and south Wales in 2024. Dame Irene added: “Over the last five years, as we have adapted and continued to grow, I am proud that we have remained true to our vision and values, and our strategic priorities: our people, our customers, and the communities where we operate.”
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Dame Irene and husband John, who founded Hays Travel, were dubbed the ‘heroes of the high street’ when they announced they had snapped up Thomas Cook’s retail portfolio of 555 shops, after the travel giant went bust on 23 September 2019.
On an appearance on BBC1’s The One Show, it was suggested to John and Irene that they were ‘bold, brave or bonkers’, for taking on the shops and more than trebling their retail estate overnight, from 190 – mainly in the north of England – to 745 around the UK.
In the weeks that followed, Hays Travel carried out a recruitment drive to interview and offer re-employment opportunities to as many former Thomas Cook colleagues as possible.
Hays Travel also responded to the Civil Aviation Authority’s request to help support the thousands of Thomas Cook customers in destination or with holidays booked, following its compulsory liquidation on 23 September.
Dame Irene said: “We were all devastated by the Thomas Cook news, there were so many excellent people at Thomas Cook and John and I knew we wanted to help. We initially looked at a few branches, then decided it was tactically better to bid for them all, which we did on 8 October. A day later we were awarded a licence to operate the entire Thomas Cook retail estate.”
Fourteen weeks after buying Thomas Cook’s shops, the COVID pandemic meant no-one could travel and Hays Travel went from posting a £4.9 million profit in October 2019 to a £34.2m loss in April 2021, because of its commitment to refund bookings.
Hays Travel has been back in the black for the past three years, with audited accounts this month showing the group’s total transaction value (TTV) in the year ended 30 April 2024 was £2.55 billion, up 17% on the same period in 2023 (£2.19bn). Group profit before tax (PBT) was £73.4m, an increase of 43% on 30 April 2023 (£51.5m).
Dame Irene added: “No one could have predicted a global pandemic when we took on Thomas Cook, but even with hindsight I would do it all again. It’s thanks to the effort and resilience of our Hays Travel colleagues and the many colleagues who joined us from Thomas Cook that we were able to care for our customers during lockdown, and were here to help them travel again, as soon as the restrictions were lifted.”
Since 2019, Hays Travel has acquired the Explorer Franchise in 2021, Just Go’s 45 northwest branches and Travel House’s 16 shops in south Wales in 2023; followed by three Holiday With Us branches in Lincolnshire, and 19 Miles Morgan Travel shops in the southwest and south Wales in 2024. Dame Irene added: “Over the last five years, as we have adapted and continued to grow, I am proud that we have remained true to our vision and values, and our strategic priorities: our people, our customers, and the communities where we operate.”
The post Five years since buying Thomas Cook shops, Dame Irene has no regrets appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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