The Midcounties Co-operative’s retail travel business is set to enjoy its most profitable year for at least a decade and is in business “for the long term”, according to chief executive Ben Reid.
Speaking at the annual conference of the group’s personal travel agents – The PTAs – in Torremolinos, Reid told the homeworking division the society was in a strong position financially to survive.
Group turnover of between £1.3 billion and £ 1.4 billion is forecast for the financial year ending January 31, 2015, with profits predicted to hit £17 million.
Reid said: “We are the largest independent co-operative society [in the UK]. We [the retail travel business] will have our most profitable year since we sold Holiday Hypermarkets about 10 years ago.
“That gives us the strength to say we are in it for the long term – you can trust us to be here for a long time.”
Reid reassured agents the society could weather any industry failures. He said: “There are so many ‘puffed up’ businesses in travel that live off cash flow and get caught out. But whatever happens in the industry, we can take it.”
Referring specifically to the future of The PTAs, Reid hinted at growth opportunities for the homeworking group when rivals fail.
“We know some of our competitors will not be there in the long term and in the next few years we will be able to fill a big space in the homeworking business,” he said.
Reid gave the group update as the society announced 39 redundancies, two in its travel division, as part of a review of its central operations. However, many are expected to apply for 32 newly-created roles, one of which is in travel. The two roles affected in the travel division are in central operations and customer services.