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Hays Travel have snapped up the former World Travel Lounge store in the Houndshill Shopping Centre and now have 46 high street travel agents across the North West and North Wales.

Don Bircham, Managing Director of Hays Travel North West, said: “We continue to look for expansion opportunities and when the right locations become available we are always interested.

“In this case World Travel Lounge, owner of the shop in Blackpool shop, contacted us and the deal was quickly done, the staff have been retained, the Hays Travel branding fitted and the store is now trading as part of our group.

Hays Travel's new Blackpool shop with, from left, Amy Odell, Forest Clark, Leah Ogden and Manager Kieran Green.

“Blackpool is a great town for us to open in. It is a busy local shopping hub and we know from our experience elsewhere that a location like this suits our business model.”

Hays Travel have an existing store in ASDA in Cherry Street, Blackpool, and have also taken on the World Travel Lounge shop in Preston’s St George’s Precinct where another four jobs have been kept.

David McDonald, of owners World Travel Group, said: “Since the travel industry has emerged from the pandemic we have made the decision to concentrate our group on the high streets of smaller towns in the North West.

“We wanted to re-align our estate to fit with our future plans and Hays Travel’s current retail footprint seemed a natural fit for us to approach them.

Don Bircham, Managing Director of Hays Travel North West, said: “Through Hays Travel we are able to offer a brilliant choice of holidays and we are not aligned to any particular tour operator so we can sell a wide range of holidays which fit the customer’s requirements."

“All our existing staff are being retained and it was really important for us that our colleagues would be looked after by a really strong company.”

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Hays Travel North West has grown steadily since its founding in 1980, a growth that has continued post lockdown, and the business, which employs 250 staff, is still keen to expand.

Don added: “We are still looking for new sites and for shop managers and retail staff and we offer a comprehensive training package.

“We are ATOL-protected and ours is a well-recognised, solid and respected brand."

To contact Hays Travel about current and upcoming job vacancies, email [email protected] or call 0800 215 5045.

Hays Travel steps in to save four jobs at Blackpool's World Travel Lounge store