The Hays Group will invest £3 million revamping Bath Travel’s 60 stores over the next three years as the chain looks to attract a younger client base.
Fourteen of Bath Travel’s agencies will be completely overhauled before Christmas and six more will have foreign exchange counters added.
John Hays, managing director and owner of Bath Travel and Hays Travel, said the Bath stores were of a varying standard but he was keen to give them “the same look and feel as Hays Travel shops”.
Explaining why it was important to “breathe new life” into the Bath stores, Hays said: “I’ve been delighted with the performance of Bath Travel since we acquired it last year. The clientele is a bit older than Hays, but it is important we get younger clients.
“We’re already starting to attract that younger client base because we’ve introduced a [radio] jingle and taken on 40 apprentices, but [the refit] is the next step.
“I believe our Hays Travel branches are the most attractive, smartest shops on the high street and we want Bath Travel to have the same look and feel.
“It is a great brand; we don’t want to take anything away from it. We’re just keen to modernise the brand and breathe new life into it.”
The colour scheme of the Bath stores will change, with its red carpets and dark wood furniture replaced.
Half of Bath’s branches have foreign exchange counters, but 75% will have them by the end of the three-year refit.
Hays Travel opened a store in Redcar, North Yorkshire, last week, and has identified 10 more towns for possible expansion.
Hays is also still looking at further growth opportunities having taken a 40% stake in 14-branch miniple Just Go, which officially began operating under the Hays name on October 1.