JustGo managing director and owner Don Bircham (pictured) is weighing up his options ahead of the end of the agency’s franchise agreement with Tui Travel.
The relationship ends on September 30 after eight years, and Bircham told Travel Weekly he plans to assess his options and is pleased he has two or three months to make a decision.
“I’m open-minded about where we go from here,” said Bircham, who is also chief executive of Wrexham FC.
“We’re in a good position and will talk to consortia and consider a strategic partnership, similar to what we had with Tui. This is a substantial business with 100 staff and a turnover of £36 million.”
JustGo has 14 shops in north Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire.
Bircham said its current agreement with Tui meant it couldn’t open shops in certain areas of the country or have a website.
He said JustGo would soon have more options and room to grow further.
Tui’s decision to end the tie-up is part of its general move away from the franchise model towards controlled distribution.
“We’ve already had three or four calls from interested parties, so it is an exciting time for us as a company,” Bircham said.
“We had a lovely time with Tui and I fully understand their reasons and I have no problems with it.
“We are excited about what the future holds for us.
“There are challenges and disadvantages to agreements like this and our disadvantages were that we didn’t have much scope for areas where we could open agencies and that we couldn’t have our own website. Now we have the possibility to do both.”