TRAVELCARE is set to make two “major” direct-sell
acquisitions in addition to further retail purchases and a significant
technology development.
General manager Amanda Williams denied the direct-sell
deals, likely to happen by the end of the year, meant it was reducing its
retail network, but said they formed part of Travelcare’s ongoing multi-channel
distribution strategy.
Last August the retailer, part of the five-strong
Co-operative Travel Trading Group, snapped up direct-sell flight specialist
Just Flights. Sunshare Vacations, with its direct-sell website
cheapestflights.co.uk, was acquired in May last year.
Williams refused to reveal further details of the
direct businesses, except to say the acquisitions were “fairly major”.
“They will back up our strategy of being a
multi-channelled agency chain,” she said.
In addition, Travelcare plans to buy a further 10
shops through the acquisition of around four travel agencies in the next six
weeks.
Travelcare closed 28 shops last year, and has closed
four this year, the most recent being Travelcare in Stirling.
It currently has 361 branches.
“The branch network is always under review,” Williams
told Travel Weekly. “But there are no plans to take shops out of the network.”
The additional shops, the names of which Williams
refused to disclose, will be bought to coincide with a major technology
development for Travelcare, to be announced in the next six weeks.
Williams said the retailer had put a major investment
into its technology that plans to provide “one single view of the customer” by
linking customer details from the shops to the Internet through to the call
centre.
Meanwhile, Travelcare is taking on 12 staff from MyTravel’s
Manchester call centre. MyTravel announced last month that it was closing its
Deansgate call centre with 160 staff in consultation over their future (Travel
Weekly July 23).