Hays Travel
Encyclopedia
Hays Travel Ltd is a travel agent based in Sunderland, England
. The company has 43 branches and a call centre. It was founded in 1980 by travel entrepreneur
, John Hays.
, Co Durham
.
After a couple of years in Seaham, John set up his second shop in Sunderland, where the Hays empire has its headquarters today. The move involved a huge investment
of £130,000, but by subletting to other offices the company managed to expand and the number of travel agencies grew steadily to eight by the early 1990s.
The company has continued to be successful, earning a revered reputation in the North East
for providing good value, quality holidays, alongside excellent customer service
. Today the company operates 35 retail travel branches in the region.
As well as operating successful high street
travel agencies, the company has diversified to include call centre
s, website
s and a homeworking division of over 300 agents.
In 1995, the Hays Travel Independence Group was formed - a consortium
for independent retailers who want to benefit from the company’s back office
expertise and buying power. The group is made up of more than 130 independent travel agents based across the UK and as far away as Athens
and Hyderabad.
Hays Travel has also helped college students in the Sunderland area get first hand experience of being a travel agent. CitySun Travel was opened in St Peters Sixth Form College to give the Travel and Tourism Students the chance to book real holidays for their fellow students, staff, family and friends. CitySun Travel opened under the Hays Travel Independence Group.
The company now employs over 800 people, turnover
last year was a record £350 million, and the organisation was recently recognised as one of the Sunday Times’ 100 Best Companies to Work For in the UK.
Managing director, John Hays, was born and educated in the mining
town of Seaham in the North East of England, living with his mother, Peggy, who owned the children’s clothes store where Hays Travel would be born, and his father, Jack, a colliery joiner
who made the trellis
that would separate the two businesses. He is married to Irene Lucas, formerly Chief Executive of South Tyneside Council.
Hays was educated at a local grammar school
, went on to study Maths at Oxford University and complete an MBA at Manchester Business School
before returning to his North East roots to set up Hays Travel.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The company has 43 branches and a call centre. It was founded in 1980 by travel entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, John Hays.
History
Hays opened the first branch of Hays Travel with no industry experience and only a desk at the back of his mum’s children’s wear shop in SeahamSeaham
Seaham, formerly Seaham Harbour, is a small town in County Durham, situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. It has a small parish church, St Mary the Virgin, with a late 7th century Anglo Saxon nave resembling the church at Escomb in many respects. St Mary the Virgin is regarded as one of...
, Co Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
.
After a couple of years in Seaham, John set up his second shop in Sunderland, where the Hays empire has its headquarters today. The move involved a huge investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
of £130,000, but by subletting to other offices the company managed to expand and the number of travel agencies grew steadily to eight by the early 1990s.
The company has continued to be successful, earning a revered reputation in the North East
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
for providing good value, quality holidays, alongside excellent customer service
Customer service
Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.According to Turban et al. , “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer...
. Today the company operates 35 retail travel branches in the region.
As well as operating successful high street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
travel agencies, the company has diversified to include call centre
Call centre
A call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,...
s, website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s and a homeworking division of over 300 agents.
In 1995, the Hays Travel Independence Group was formed - a consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
for independent retailers who want to benefit from the company’s back office
Back office
A back office is a part of most corporations where tasks dedicated to running the company itself takes place. The term "Back office" comes from the building layout of early companies where the front office would contain the sales and other customer-facing staff and the back office would be those...
expertise and buying power. The group is made up of more than 130 independent travel agents based across the UK and as far away as Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and Hyderabad.
Hays Travel has also helped college students in the Sunderland area get first hand experience of being a travel agent. CitySun Travel was opened in St Peters Sixth Form College to give the Travel and Tourism Students the chance to book real holidays for their fellow students, staff, family and friends. CitySun Travel opened under the Hays Travel Independence Group.
The company now employs over 800 people, turnover
Turnover
-Business:*Turnover is sometimes a synonym for revenue , especially in European and South African usage.Services sold by a company during a particular period of time....
last year was a record £350 million, and the organisation was recently recognised as one of the Sunday Times’ 100 Best Companies to Work For in the UK.
Managing director, John Hays, was born and educated in the mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
town of Seaham in the North East of England, living with his mother, Peggy, who owned the children’s clothes store where Hays Travel would be born, and his father, Jack, a colliery joiner
Joiner
A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...
who made the trellis
Trellis
Trellis may refer to:* Trellis Drainage System* Trellis , an architectural structure often used to support plants* Trellis , a special kind of graph, often used in coding...
that would separate the two businesses. He is married to Irene Lucas, formerly Chief Executive of South Tyneside Council.
Hays was educated at a local grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, went on to study Maths at Oxford University and complete an MBA at Manchester Business School
Manchester Business School
Manchester Business School is the largest department of the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. According to Bloomberg Business Week's ranking of the world's best business schools the MBS MBA is ranked third in the world...
before returning to his North East roots to set up Hays Travel.
Awards
Hays’ personal business accolades include –- Entrepreneurs’ Forum first ever Entrepreneur of the Year 2004
- Lifetime Achievement Award at the travel industry’s Agent Achievement Awards 2008
- The prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award at the Globe Travel Awards 2009