10 Oct Barrhead Travel Announces Ambitious Expansion Plans in the UK Market
Barrhead Continues Major Recruitment Drive to Hire Former Thomas Cook Employees
Barrhead, Glasgow, U.K. (October 10, 2019) — Barrhead Travel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Travel Leaders Group, today announced an ambitious plan to open as many as 100 Barrhead-branded stores in the UK and rehire a significant number of former Thomas Cook employees as quickly as possible.
“Since our acquisition of Barrhead Travel, we have been exploring ambitious expansion plans for this trusted brand. The situation with Thomas Cook has accelerated those plans,” said Travel Leaders Group Chairman Mike Batt. “We believe there is strong demand for the services provided by Barrhead Travel so we are moving full steam ahead with our growth strategy.”
The implementation of the proposal would significantly expand Barrhead Travel’s current footprint. At present, Barrhead Travel operates a network of 76 stores with a strong presence in Scotland, as well as locations in in Newcastle, Cumbria, Leicester, Southampton and Belfast.
– Travel Leaders Group Chairman Mike Batt
“This plan could provide hundreds of available jobs for Thomas Cook employees who were displaced by the closure of the branches,” said Batt. “It would also ensure that the travelling public in communities across the UK have access to high quality travel services provided by professionals and operated by a strong, stable company.”
The move represents a major vote of confidence by Barrhead Travel’s parent company, Travel Leaders Group, in the future of the leisure travel advisor industry in the UK.
“With its history of quality service, its strong supplier relationships and the backing of a powerful parent company, we believe Barrhead is best positioned to serve the needs of UK travellers and compete effectively and successfully in the market,” said Batt.
In February 2018, Barrhead Travel was acquired by Travel Leaders Group, one of the largest retail travel companies globally with more than 6,000 travel agency locations worldwide representing more than 52,000 travel agents spanning the US, Canada and Mexico, as well as the UK.
To jumpstart its expansion, said Batt. “We want to welcome many of the Thomas Cook staff to the Barrhead Travel family and quickly get them back to business.”
To that end, Jacqueline Dobson, President of Barrhead Travel said Barrhead has launched a major recruitment drive among Thomas Cook employees and has already recruited a good number of ex-Thomas Cook workers. Barrhead Travel is known for its professional training and development, offers some of the best staff benefits in the industry and has been named one of the “Best Companies to Work For” by the Sunday Times.
Dobson said, “With the backing of Travel Leaders Group, we are looking forward to opening more Barrhead stores and helping our colleagues across the industry get back to serving their loyal clients. The high street travel agency is very much alive in the UK and is pivotal in today’s holiday booking journey. Customer experience and employee development remain our number one priority and this philosophy will be prominent across all of our new stores.”
Former Thomas Cook employees can contact the Barrhead Travel recruitment team on 0141 223 6655 to learn about the next steps or visit https://www.barrheadtravel.co.uk/careers/current-vacancies
About Barrhead Travel
Since it was founded in 1975, Barrhead Travel has expanded from a traditional ‘bucket and spade’ travel agent to a multi-faceted travel group chartering its own flights, offering bespoke holidays to all corners of the globe, running an in-house training facility, employing specialist consultants providing expert advice in areas such as long haul, cruise and ski holidays and promoting youth employment through its apprenticeship scheme.
The company has won many awards over the years, including Top UK Travel Agency and Best Travel Agency in Scotland for 19 years running. Barrhead Travel has been recognised as one of the Best Companies to Work For for the last five years.
About Travel Leaders Group
Travel Leaders Group (www.TravelLeadersGroup.com) is transforming travel with a commitment to our vacation and business travel clients through our progressive approach toward each unique travel experience. Having already assisted millions of travellers, Travel Leaders Group manages leisure, business and franchise travel operations under a variety of diversified divisions and brands. With over 6,000 agency locations, Travel Leaders Group ranks as one of the industry’s largest travel agency companies.
Contact:
Dina Ruden – druden@travelleaders.com