thomas cook hays travel

Hays Travel announces £14.35m profit after saving thousands of Thomas Cook staff

Hays Travel lost much-loved founder John Hays in 2020 and faced multiple challenges to the travel industry during the pandemic

• 07:59, 7 OCT 2022

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A Sunderland-based travel firm that saved thousands of Thomas Cook staff from redundancy is celebrating its first profitable year since the start of the pandemic.

Hays Travel has survived a challenging three years since it rescued Thomas Cook staff when the firm collapsed in 2019. After buying all 555 of its UK travel agencies, Hays Travel faced a turbulent time when the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020 with restrictions affecting travel.

Then in November of that year, the company's much-loved founder John Hays suddenly died leaving behind his beloved wife, Dame Irene Hays.

READ MORE: Thomasz Oleszak, 14, remembered as 'charismatic and loyal friend' by Gateshead school after tragic knife attack

Hays Travel, which is the UK's largest travel firm, has now announced a profit before tax of £14.35m from its operations in high street retail, online service centres, homeworking, franchise, foreign exchange, and its Independence Group.

Owner and chairwoman, Dame Irene Hays, said: “These results vindicate our decision to acquire the Thomas Cook retail estate and we have fulfilled the commitment we made then to return the remaining shops to profit. The key to our success is our customer service ethos.

"Each time a new challenge appeared – whether it was traffic lights, restrictions or cancelled flights - our agents were there for their customers.”

She continued: “Our people have yet again been phenomenal. The success of the company in 21/22 is down to their fantastic commitment to continued customer service throughout the pandemic and ever since.

“We’ve continued to recruit and train more travel agents and head office positions and more than doubled the number of apprentices."

Despite the cost-of-living crisis gripping the UK, Hays Travel said there is still high demand for holidays. The firm said it has seen travel bookings increase by 221% compared to the previous 12 months, ending on April 30, 2021.

“The demand for holidays continues," Dame Hays said.

"As the UK’s largest independent agent, our vast range of products means we can find holidays for people who are on a budget or those who want luxury, longer cruises, or touring holidays, and we are seeing lots more people choosing to spread the cost by direct debit.

“In the current year, we will continue to grow organically and via acquisitions as well as developing our Independence Group, Foreign Exchange and Homeworking Divisions, continuing our focus on great value holidays and excellent customer care.”

Hays Travel was founded in 1980 and now has just under 500 stores, employing around 4,500 people across the UK.

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Hays Travels bounces back to profit three years after snapping up Thomas Cook shops

'These results vindicate our decision to acquire the Thomas Cook retail estate' says owner Dame Irene Hays

• 16:31, 6 OCT 2022

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The owner of North East independent holiday firm Hays Travel says the company’s latest results vindicate the decision to acquire hundreds of Thomas Cook shops three years ago.

The Sunderland business, launched 42 years ago in a single shop in Seaham, County Durham, became the UK’s largest independent travel firm when it bought 555 high street travel agents from the collapsed tour operator Thomas Cook in 2019 in a £7.8m deal.

Months later, the company’s entire network of shops was forced to close when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, which led to it effectively laying off around 900 of its staff while putting some on half pay, saying the slump in the travel market had led to it losing hundreds of thousands of pounds a day.

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Now, three years after rescuing the Thomas Cook shops and jobs, the company has announced its first profit since the start of the pandemic, converting the loss of £35.6m for the 18 months to April 2021 to operating profit of £12.45m for the year ended April 2022. It also recorded Ebitda of £15.9m, up from a loss of £29.4m.

The results come despite a turbulent 12 months with ongoing coronavirus restrictions, the Omicron variant, the national recruitment crisis and latterly the Russian invasion of Ukraine impacting the whole travel industry.

Travel bookings increased by 221% and the group achieved a transaction value of £1.07bn, up from £747m in the previous 18 months. Turnover, however, dropped from £262.5m to £219.4m. The average number of employees fell from 5,229 to 3,786.

The firm retained all former Thomas Cook employees who wanted to join Hays Travel when it took over the shops in 2019 and it said it has since increased overall staff numbers in the three years since the acquisition. There are also now 542 apprenticeships across the UK in travel agent or head office roles.

The company made two acquisitions and continues to have no debt and does not use overdrafts. It said its balance sheet continues to strengthen with significant improvement in sales of cruise and touring holidays.

Owner and chair, Dame Irene Hays, said: “These results vindicate our decision to acquire the Thomas Cook retail estate and we have fulfilled the commitment we made then to return the remaining shops to profit.

“The key to our success is our customer service ethos. Each time a new challenge appeared – whether it was traffic lights, restrictions or cancelled flights - our agents were there for their customers.”

Dame Irene said that diversifying during the pandemic to provide business processing services, utilising contact centre skills and expertise, and the strength of the balance sheet pre-pandemic all played a part in sustaining the business.

With new challenges on the horizon, not least the cost-of-living crisis, she said the firm’s business plan remains ambitious and achievable.

She said: “The demand for holidays continues. As the UK’s largest independent agent, our vast range of products means we can find holidays for people who are on a budget or those who want luxury, longer cruises or touring holidays, and we are seeing lots more people choosing to spread the cost by direct debit.

“In the current year we will continue to grow organically and via acquisitions as well as developing our Independence Group, Foreign Exchange and Homeworking Divisions, continuing our focus on great value holidays and excellent customer care.”

Dame Irene commended the commitment and skills of the company’s staff, adding: “Our people have yet again been phenomenal. The success of the company in 21/22 is down to their fantastic commitment to continued customer service throughout the pandemic and ever since.

“We’ve continued to recruit and train more travel agents and head office positions and more than doubled the number of apprentices. I am delighted that we can now continue to reward our retail teams for their loyalty and hard work with a significantly increased bonus scheme.

“I’m also pleased to be able to reinstate our contributions to local communities through our branches across the country and the Hays Travel Foundation.”

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Hays Travel Buys Thomas Cook Stores, Saving Thousands of Jobs

The tour company has acquired all 555 of its collapsed rival’s branches, potentially rescuing the posts of 2,500 workers.

By Iliana Magra

LONDON — Hays Travel, an independent British travel agent, said on Wednesday that it had bought all 555 stores of Thomas Cook, one of the world’s oldest tour companies, which collapsed last month .

More than 25 percent of all former Thomas Cook retail employees who have been hired as a result of the deal, which is expected to save up to 2,500 jobs, Hays said in a statement. The move will come as a major relief to many who found themselves unemployed overnight after Thomas Cook’s disintegration.

“Thomas Cook was a much-loved brand and a pillar of the U.K. and the global travel industry,” Irene Hays, the chairwoman of Hays Travel Group, said in the statement. “We will build on the good things Thomas Cook had — not least its people — and that will put us in even better stead for the future.”

The company said it would add the former Thomas Cook locations to the 190 stores that Hays already owns across Britain.

Hays said that in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of Thomas Cook , which left about 150,000 travelers from Britain in limbo, it had offered jobs to more than 600 of the defunct company’s employees .

John Hays, Hays’ managing director, said the acquisition was a leap forward for his company. “It is a game changer for us,” he said, “almost trebling the number of shops we have and doubling our work force — and for the industry, which will get to keep some of its most talented people.”

Thomas Cook was placed in compulsory liquidation on Sept. 23, with some of its flights still in the air at the time the company announced that it was closing.

Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority arranged dozens of flights to get people home from far-flung destinations, with the last of those flights arriving in Britain on Monday, according to local news media reports. The authority said on Wednesday that just under 150,000 passengers had been repatriated.

As of Tuesday morning, about 100,000 claims for refunds had been filed, the aviation authority said , in what is already the British travel industry’s largest ever refund program.

The abrupt closure of a signature travel company has raised questions over the cause of its demise , with some speculating that bad management was to blame and others attributing the downfall to Britain’s impending exit from the European Union.

When Thomas Cook reported in May that it had suffered a loss of 1.5 billion pounds, about $1.9 billion, for the first half of the year, the company cited a European heat wave the previous summer that had “reduced customer demand for winter sun.”

And its chief executive, Peter Fankhauser, pointed to uncertainties over Brexit, writing that “there is now little doubt that the Brexit process has led many U.K. customers to delay their holiday plans for this summer.”

But others say Thomas Cook’s demise was years in the making as it struggled to navigate the transition to the digital age. In the end, it was carrying $2.1 billion of debt , according to the company.

An earlier version of this article misstated the day Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority reported the number of travelers who had been repatriated. It was on Wednesday, not Tuesday.

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Thomas Cook stores owner Hays Travel creates 1,500 jobs and apprenticeships

Hays has begun recruiting more staff and apprentices as it raises its ambitions following the collapse of Thomas Cook

Business reporter @SkyNewsBiz

Thursday 21 November 2019 12:17, UK

The company that bought the Thomas Cook UK store estate following the tour operator's collapse is to create 1,500 new positions.

Hays Travel , which paid liquidators £6m to acquire the 555 rented premises, said it had opened 450 of the sites since the deal was announced last month.

It took its total number of UK stores to 737 branches.

The company said it had either employed or offered permanent contracts to 2,330 former Thomas Cook employees to date.

It announced that an apprenticeship position was on offer at each of its stores under its Academy programme.

Hays added it was currently seeking 200 staff for its headquarters in Sunderland and 500 workers to handle its in-store foreign currency exchange operations.

Managing director John Hayes said: "We're further increasing staffing to ensure we have the highest customer service levels across all of our stores and our head office functions.

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"These are fantastic permanent career opportunities for people who want to take a step into an exciting industry where every day is different.

"You don't necessarily need travel experience - just an enthusiasm for travel, a good head for numbers for the foreign exchange posts and some customer service experience of any kind would be helpful."

The additional posts will take the company's workforce to 5,700.

Its high street expansion has been seen as risky, given the challenges that have faced UK town centres since last year from online competition.

Retailers have reported a sharp drop in consumer confidence at a time of surging costs from rising wages, rents and business rates.

Hays has based its investment on the belief UK consumers value trusted face-to-face customer service when it comes to package holidays.

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It is not the only company looking to fill the void left by Thomas Cook.

EasyJet used the publication of its latest financial results this week to confirm it was looking to bolster its own tour operator business.

Other airline competitors have noted increased consumer interest.

Hays Travel to acquire entire Thomas Cook retail estate

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Hays travel is to acquire Thomas Cook’s entire retail estate.

The agreement will see Hays Travel acquire a total of 555 stores around the UK, providing re-employment opportunities for up to 2,500 former staff who were made redundant following the collapse of the travel giant on September 23.

More than 100 new jobs will be based at the company’s Sunderland headquarters with the rest in shops across the UK.

More :  Q&A: John and Irene Hays on Thomas Cook shops deal

Hays Travel reveals details of plans for Thomas Cook shops

Trade reacts to Hays Travel’s acquisition of former Cook stores

Hays Travel has already recruited 421 former Thomas Cook staff and has further offers outstanding to former employees.

The deal will take Hays’ shop network to 745.

Hays signed a deal with the Official Receiver and liquidators KPMG today.

Earlier on Wednesday it was understood Barrhead Travel, Midcounties Co-operative, Millington Travel, Polka Dot Travel and Miles Morgan Travel were also among retailers to have lodged bids with the liquidators of Thomas Cook for its former stores.

Chair Irene Hays said:  “Thomas Cook was a much-loved brand and a pillar of the UK and the global travel industry.   We will build on the good things Thomas Cook had – not least its people – and that will put us in even better stead for the future.

“We all share a passion for the travel industry and we want to continue to build the company’s reputation for first class service and being a great place to work and develop a career.”

Managing director John Hays said: “Our staff were devastated to hear about Thomas Cook and we all immediately felt we wanted to help.

“In the last two weeks we have already employed or offered jobs to around 600 former Thomas Cook colleagues, and it has been a very emotional experience for them.  Now that we are able to re-open the shops, we are looking forward to welcoming many more people who share our passion for the travel industry, into our family business.

“I’m very proud of the fantastic team who have helped me build Hays Travel over almost 40 years and they have worked tirelessly over the last couple of weeks to bring this about.  It is a game-changer for us, almost trebling the number of shops we have and doubling our workforce – and for the industry, which will get to keep some of its most talented people.”

David Chapman, official receiver, said: “I am pleased to announce we have reached an agreement with Hays Travel to acquire Thomas Cook’s entire UK retail estate, comprising 555 stores across the country. This represents an important step in the liquidation process, as we seek to realise the company’s assets.”

Jim Tucker, partner at KPMG and joint special manager of Thomas Cook’s Retail division, said: “This is an extremely positive outcome, and we are delighted to have secured this agreement. It provides re-employment opportunities for a significant number of former Thomas Cook employees, and secures the future of retail sites up and down the UK high street. We are pleased to have achieved this in a short time frame and in the context of a complex liquidation process, which is testament to a lot of hard work from a number of parties.

“Over the weeks ahead, we will work closely with Hays Travel and landlords to ensure a smooth transition of the store estate.”

Hays has been operating for 40 years and reached sales of more than £1bn in 2018.

The team supporting Hays in the deal included lawyers Muckle LLP, financial advisers White Hart Associates and property consultants Identity Consult.

The union representing Thomas Cook retail staff welcomed the deal and said it is seeking an “urgent meeting with Hays”.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “We have been clear from the start that Thomas Cook was a strong brand and that it was likely parts of the business would be able to move forward as a going concern.

“Throughout the industry the talent, commitment and skills of our members working for Thomas Cook was well known and I have no doubt they will bring the same dedication to Hays.”

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Thomas Cook: All 555 stores to be bought by rival firm Hays Travel

The move will safeguard jobs for former thomas cook employees, article bookmarked.

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All Thomas Cook stores in the UK will be acquired by a rival travel firm.

The 555 high street stores have been bought by Hays Travel, Britain’s largest independent travel agent, which will also safeguard a “significant number” of jobs for former employees. Hays has already recruited 421 former Thomas Cook staff.

It is believed up to 2,000 additional staff may return to their former stores.

“Former employees re-employed by Hays Travel will not have their eligibility for redundancy payments affected,” the Insolvency Service said.

Thomas Cook collapsed on 23 September when a financial rescue plan fell through. The firm was heavily indebted.

John and Irene Hays, respectively managing director and group chair of Hays Travel Ltd, said: “Thomas Cook was a much-loved brand employing talented people. We look forward to working with many of them.”

Other travel firms, notably Travel Counsellors, have been actively recruiting former Thomas Cook staff.

The Thomas Cook retail estate had been downsized in the past few years to around half of its maximum size.

Several buyers were interested in a “land grab” of travel agencies after the collapse of Thomas Cook – an opportunity to increase their footprint and market share relatively quickly.

Besides Hays, it is believed the giant rival Tui was interested in picking up some premises – but did not want to duplicate in towns and cities where it already had a strong presence.

Miles Morgan Travel and Mid-Counties Cooperative also put in bids.

Thomas Cook collapse: Passengers stranded and thousands of jobs lost

The Scottish chain, Barrhead Travel, was also interested in expanding southwards.

But the Official Receiver clearly felt that a single buyer and a swift transaction was the best way to proceed. It mirrors the sale of precious slots at Gatwick airport when Monarch collapsed two years ago; rather than selling them off piecemeal, the liquidators opted to sell them as a package, at over £50m, to British Airways.

Nick Wyatt of GlobalData said: “We don’t yet know the cost of the deal, what terms can be agreed with landlords for example, but this was most certainly a buyer’s market situation so Hays should have been able to negotiate favourable terms.

“Hays should be able to operate without the millstone of debt round its neck and the publicity around the Thomas Cook collapse may even spur people to seek out Atol-protected package holidays for peace of mind, which will play into Hays’ hands.

Hays Travel, based in Sunderland, began with a single shop in Seaham, County Durham. Its heartland is northeast England but expanded into the south with the purchase of Bath Travel. The latest acquisition will give it a nationwide presence and treble the number of travel agents.

But it will also mean that in some high streets it will have more than one store, with rationalisation a possibility at some point in the future.

The speed of the Hays transaction will raise further questions about the collapse of Thomas Cook. The company had been struggling beneath an immense debt burden for years. Had it sold its high street travel agencies or, indeed, its airline, Thomas Cook may have been able to survive long enough to turn around the business.

The move will also increase calls for travel firms which run out of cash to be kept going under “creditor protection” while buyers are sought for healthy parts of the business.

Thomas Cook’s airport slot portfolio, especially at Gatwick and Manchester, is also likely to be the target of multiple bids.

Separately, British Airways has begin moving in on the former Thomas Cook Airlines network. BA has announced new services from Gatwick to Antalya – a key destination for Thomas Cook before its failure – beginning in March 2020.

The airport serves a string of resorts on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

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International Edition

Thomas Cook to be revived as online travel firm

• Published 8 September 2020
• comments Comments

The Thomas Cook travel brand is close to being re-launched following the company's spectacular collapse last year that cost thousands of jobs.

However, the new firm will be online-only without the aircraft, hotels and shops of the old business.

The brand's owner, China's Fosun, wants to revive Britain's oldest travel firm within weeks to capture the start of the booking season for next summer.

But exact timing depends on when Thomas Cooks gets a licence to operate.

The 179-year-old company collapsed under a mountain of debt, and sparked the largest ever peacetime repatriation to bring home 150,000 UK holidaymakers from abroad.

Fosun was already a large shareholder in the business, and last November paid £11m for the Thomas Cook trademarks, websites, social media accounts.

A very limited Thomas Cook website , external is already operating, although it is not selling holidays.

The firm needs an Atol licence from the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority. There are reports this could be granted within days.

Fosun, which owns the Club Med holiday resorts, declined to comment.

What went wrong at Thomas Cook?

Hays Travel 'devastated' as it cuts almost 900 jobs

UK travel restrictions: Which countries are on the list?

A source said Thomas Cook was "very keen to be up and running by Christmas. It's when people's thoughts turn to summer holidays, and there is likely to be a lot of pent up demand because of this year's coronavirus cancellations."

The timing of Thomas Cook's re-launch will also depend on any further restrictions and quarantine rules on foreign travel because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain had been Thomas Cook's most popular destination.

The travel and tourism industry has been hit hard by a coronavirus collapse in trade. Britain's Hays Travel, which bought the bulk of Thomas Cook's High Street outlets and took on many ex-staff, is cutting almost 900 jobs.

And Tui, Thomas Cook's biggest rival before the collapse, received €1.2bn (£1bn) in aid from the German government.

More on this story

• Published 4 August 2020

EasyJet: Flyers frustrated at changing quarantine

Tui sees surge in holiday bookings for next year

• Published 13 August 2020

• Published 23 September 2019

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Thomas Cook collapse: Who owns Hayes Travel? How do I apply for jobs there?

Hays Travel has announced it will buy all of Thomas Cook's 555 shops in a move which could save 2,500 jobs.

The Sunderland-based travel agent had on Wednesday reached a dea l to buy its rival's UK stores following Thomas Cook's collapse last month.

It marks a "game-changing" expansion for Hays, which currently operates out of 190 shops and employs 1,900 staff UK-wide.

Hays will buy the shops from the Official Receiver, which was appointed after Thomas Cook collapsed , and will look to re-employ former employees from Thomas Cook's retail operations.

Up to 2,500 jobs could be saved by the expansion, with around 100 based at the company's north east headquarters. Hays has already urged former Thomas Cook staff to apply, already recruiting more than 400.

Here is all you need to know about Hays Travel.

Thomas Cook collapse - In pictures

Who are Hays Travel?

Hays is the country's largest independent travel agent, and is currently based in Sunderland.

The company has 190 shops across the company, and employs just under 2,000 people in the UK.

In 2018 it reached sales of more than £1billion.

Who owns Hays Travel?

A private company, it is jointly owned and managed by managing director John Hays and his wife Irene Hays, who set up the firm 40 years ago.

Mr Hays said of the expansion: "It is a game-changer for us, almost trebling the number of shops we have and doubling our workforce - and for the industry, which will get to keep some of its most talented people."

How do you apply for jobs there?

The company has already tweeted a link about applying for jobs, urging former Thomas Cook employees to apply and has said it wants to save as many jobs as it can.

Applicants are advised to ring the Hays Travel helpline or visit the careers section. Find out more here .

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Hays told the BBC it planned to reopen all the shops with immediate effect, adding to the 190 stores to its portfolio.

The travel company said it will reopen the shops under its own brand as soon as possible. It has already recruited more than 400 former Thomas Cook employees and made other offers to the travel firm's ex-workers.

"We can now offer opportunities to more people," says a statement online. "We have already recruited over 400 talented former Thomas Cook employees and we are ready to welcome many more of the retail branch staff."

Jim Tucker, partner at KPMG, said this deal "provides re-employment opportunities for a significant number of former Thomas Cook employees, and secures the future of retail sites up and down the UK high street".

When applicants click through to the vacancies section of the website, they will be told that thanks to the deal "we can begin to re-open Thomas Cook stores, in their new Hays livery, from today".

"We aim to open as many as we logistically can as soon as possible," it adds.

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Hays Travel owners offer jobs to 2,000 ex-Thomas Cook staff

John and Irene Hays have also reopened 186 of collapsed tour operator’s 555 high street shops

The husband and wife team who bought Thomas Cook’s network of high street travel agencies out of liquidation say they have offered nearly 2,000 of the company’s former staff a job and reopened 186 of its shops.

John and Irene Hays, who run the Sunderland-based Hays Travel, bought the collapsed tour operator’s 555 shops in a surprise deal this month that promises to rescue up to 2,500 jobs.

In an update on their progress, they said they hoped to reach the jobs target soon and had made offers to 1,982 of the 9,000 staff whose livelihoods were put at risk when the firm failed.

“We have had a fantastic response to the news that we are keeping your favourite shops open with the same lovely people to continue to give you excellent service and great value,” they said.

“The colleagues we have now welcomed into the Hays Travel family are really keen to get back to finding everyone the holiday of their dreams as soon as possible.”

On Tuesday, speaking at the first session of a select committee inquiry into the 178-year-old tour operator’s implosion this week, Thomas Cook’s former chief executive, Peter Fankhauser, said the business was not profitable enough. It reported earnings of just £11m despite selling 60% of the company’s holidays, he added.

But John and Irene Hays, who built their profitable travel agency with no debt, have said they can make a success of the business where Thomas Cook directors failed, pointing to rising sales of package holidays.

There has also been interest in other parts of the Thomas Cook empire, with investment firm Triton reportedly interested the Nordic business.

The official receiver, a government employee overseeing Thomas Cook’s liquidation, is in charge of discussions with potential buyers for the firm’s assets.

As of 14 October, the official receiver said 8,156 Thomas Cook staff in the UK have been made redundant, 89 have left voluntarily and 809 have been retained during the liquidation process.

• Thomas Cook
• Travel & leisure
• Mergers and acquisitions

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Montevideo, May 30th 2024 - 17:32 UTC

Hays Travel to the rescue of Thomas Cook: it is to acquire 555 stores

In a move that could save up to 2,500 jobs, Hays Travel announced on Wednesday that it is to acquire 555 Thomas Cook stores from the Official Receiver. The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is a significant step for Hays, which has 190 shops, 1,900 staff, and last year had sales of £379m, reporting profits of £10m.

Mr. Hays, who owns the business with wife Irene, said: “It is a game-changer for us, almost trebling the number of shops we have and doubling our workforce – and for the industry, which will get to keep some of its most talented people.”

Following the news, travel industry’s data and analytics experts offer their view on the deal. Not many in the industry saw this deal coming but it is welcomed news for the high street. It is a bold move on Hays’ part, but Thomas Cook is a cherished brand with an established customer base and if Hays has negotiated well, the move may just pay off.

Much will depend on the terms of the deal. As this is breaking news, the industry does not yet know the cost of the deal, what terms can be agreed with landlords for example, but this was most certainly a buyer’s market situation so Hays should have been able to negotiate favorable terms.

Thomas Cook’s demise was the result of a multitude of factors, but at the core was a mountain of debt that was just too costly to service. Group revenue was £9.6 billion for FY2018, so there is still demand for some of the company’s services.

Hays should be able to operate without the millstone of debt round its neck and the publicity around the Thomas Cook collapse may even spur people to seek out Atol protected package holidays for peace of mind, which will play into Hays’ hands.

The deal is not however, without peril. It will have to conduct a review of store locations and operations and there may be a need for a rationalization at some point, particularly in areas in which Hays already has a strong presence. Hays will also need to make sure it invests in digital trends as competitive online threats to a large store network are legion.

Top Comments

The question is why is this piece appearing in Mercopenguin, a British government propaganda organ supposedly devoted to America, South America and the “South Atlantic”?

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