VIRGINHolidays has invested in its first travel agency through a £2m controlling stake in Teletext specialist Worldwide Travel.
Virgin Holidays managing director Ron Simms said: “Worldwide has been a good customer of ours and it was a natural move.”
He claimed the purchase of the East Anglian-based agency was a one-off and did not signal an expansion by the Virgin Group into the retail sector.
Simms said bookings with Worldwide accounted for 12% of Virgin Holidays’ sales.
Industry sources said the deal would be a blow for Thomson Holidays, which does a lot of business with Worldwide.
Virgin Holidays also sells its product via Virgin’s Megastores in central London and Manchester.