Premier Travel has closed one of its Travel Centre branches and plans to shut another following a strategic review of its retail estate.
The miniple, which has shops across East Anglia and southern England, has closed Travel Centre’s Gorleston branch in Great Yarmouth. Its agency in Grove Road, Norwich, will shut “in the near future”.
Three staff have been made redundant at the Gorleston agency, while two staff at the Grove Road branch are to be relocated. One further staff member at Grove Road remains in consultation.
A spokeswoman said the branches were not deemed commercially viable following a review of the company’s retail estate, with the recession particularly hitting trade in Gorleston.
The sister company to Premier Holidays now has four Travel Centres – two in Norwich, one in Wymondham and one in Dereham – and 18 Premier Travel branches in East Anglia and the south of England.
A spokeswoman said: “This was obviously a very difficult decision but we believe a strategic one, which enables us to utilise resources and grow our business in our most successful branches.”
Bookings have been transferred from the Gorleston branch to the Reepham Road branch in Norwich.
Former Global Travel Lounge owner Peter Buckell, who ran the Gorleston branch from 2006-11, said this would be the third time some staff had been made redundant since 2006.