In a shock announcement made last week, Hays Travel has agreed to a deal that will buy out all 555 Thomas Cook locations, saving over 2,000 jobs in the United Kingdom.
Hays, an independent travel company and a direct competitor of the travel agency, has said that the move will allow the company to expand into underserved areas and expand their business penetration, particularly in Scotland and Wales.
Progress Within Weeks
The Sunderland based firm will bail out the collapsed travel company and has stated that they hope to open closed Thomas Cook locations over the coming weeks, welcoming employees back to their jobs.
However, the company has stated that it does not mean all locations will remain open as they now must negotiate deals with local landlords about the rental properties the company used to own.
Thomas Cook Collapse
The acquisition of Thomas Cook – which collapsed in September 2019 after it failed to find the necessary funds to continue running – was made for an undisclosed sum and will vastly increase the presence of Hays.
Last year, the travel company reported profits of around £10m and operates around 190 stores with 1,900 staff. As Hays will absorb Thomas Cook into its business, it now means that there could be competing shops on the British high street, particularly in the North and North East of England.
Hays’ takeover announcement comes after days of negotiations with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – the regulatory body for the travel industry – and statements from the company emphasised how emotional the process had been.
The company also announced that 100 new jobs will be added at the central headquarters in Sunderland by the end of this month.
It’s currently unclear what changes Hays will make to the famous Thomas Cook brand, but the owners have promised speed and efficiency in getting employees back to work and UK branches up and running again.
Collapse Impact
The collapse of travel giant Thomas Cook put over 20,000 jobs in jeopardy across the globe, 9,000 of which were in the UK. It also sparked the biggest repatriation to British citizens back to the UK in peacetime, with over 100,000 Britons having to be flown back from various locations after the company went bust.