Barrhead Travel has named the locations of the next three stores to open as part of its expansion plans.
Branches will open in Oldham, Plymouth and Halifax in the new year as part of the agency’s drive to open 20 new shops by the end of March and a longer-term goal of 100 new stores.
Fifteen of the 20 planned to open by March have now been named (see table below) and the latest openings, on the Isle of Wight, Widnes, and Newcastle-under-Lyme, took place over the weekend.
Staff from Barrhead Travel’s new Widnes branch
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Other recent openings include Burnley and Liverpool, meaning the agency’s retail network is now up to 88 stores including its managed service travel partners which have different names above the door.
Plymouth will be one of the Glasgow-headquartered agency’s most southern branches while Halifax and Oldham will bolster Barrhead Travel’s presence in the North-West and Yorkshire.
A nation-wide recruitment campaign has been underway since the collapse of Thomas Cook in September with the majority of new roles being filled by former employees. So far, more than 100 former Thomas Cook staff have been recruited by Barrhead.
The team from Barrhead Travel’s Newcastle-under-Lyme store
Jacqueline Dobson, president of Barrhead Travel, said that their recruitment strategy would continue to focus on finding the right people.
“Our new locations are very much reflective of finding strong teams who are really passionate about launching the Barrhead Travel brand in their local area,” she said. “Training and development will be a priority in the first instance while we introduce the teams to the brand and our systems.
“The communities where we have opened so far during our expansion project have been very receptive to Barrhead Travel; many of the teams are well known in their local area and have extensive experience in the travel industry – it’s a winning combination.
“Our branch in Plymouth will be a springboard for growth in the south-west of the country. Halifax and Oldham will complement our cluster of northern stores due to open and help the development of brand awareness in that region.”
Barrhead’s new stores that have opened so far:
Burnley
Liverpool Allerton Road
Newcastle under Lyme
Widnes
Isle of Wight
Barrhead Travel’s new stores due to open:
Wallasey
Northwich
Warrington
Doncaster
Oldham
Stockport
Birkenhead
Darlington
Plymouth
Halifax
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