Travel agent saves shops and seeks others to buy

Jun 9 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

THE region's biggest independent travel agent has snapped up 25 shops from a rival which had gone into administration and says it is now hunting for more acquisitions.

Sunderland company Hays Travel has struck a deal to take over almost half the 57 branches of Harvey World Travel UK for an undisclosed sum. The Staffordshire company, which went into administration on Friday, mainly traded in the Midlands, South West and East Anglia.

The branches will be rebranded as Vacation World and licensed to Hays Travel, which recently stepped in to take over collapsed North East rival Freedom Direct Holidays and most of its 109 staff.

The 25 Vacation World branches, which will be run by travel consultant Simon Maunder, have annual sales of about £20m.

Hays managing director John Hays said: “We realised they were in trouble and the management approached us a little while ago. We are now registering all the 25 branches with ABTA [the Association of British Travel Agents]. Our technology is now being installed into the branches, which are primarily in the Midlands and South West. At least 150 jobs will be saved.”