The family owners of Hays Travel have pledged to protect the business, its staff and customers through the Covid-19 crisis.
John and Irene Hays, who rescued Thomas Cook’s 555 high street agencies out of administration last year, admitted to having “no regrets” over the deal despite the subsequent onslaught of coronavirus.
Addressing the controversy over refunds for cancelled holidays, John said: “We’ve stood our ground and if our customers want a refund, we’ll fight for them to get one.
“If the tour operator isn’t willing or able, we’re giving it [refund to the customer] and then trying to get it back.”
Two-thirds of customers who have made a decision about holidays already booked have elected to reschedule, indicating a rebound next year if and when the situation returns to normal.
The couple moved themselves on to the national minimum wage when it became clear that the business was going to be badly affected by the outbreak.
“We said we’d work for nothing and then our payroll said they’d have to make us redundant in that case, so we changed our minds,” John told The Guardian.
Landlords, including those owning the former Thomas Cook estate, have also shown willingness to “share the pain” by offering rent holidays on their travel agency premises.
Staff have been moved on to the government’s furlough scheme, which pays 80% of wages. Up to half have come back to work and more are to follow.
The Sunderland-based owners are determined to avoid redundancies.
Irene said: “The prospect of those folk from Thomas Cook going through this twice in one year does not bear thinking about.”
John said: “Two months ago things were going fantastically but it’s not anybody’s fault and in these circumstances, all you can do is make the best of it.
“We’ll do what we can to protect our staff, protect the business and protect our customers. We’ve just got a positive attitude on life.”
