Staff shortages are set to be the biggest barrier to success in peaks season, Hays Travel North West managing director Don Bircham warned agents.
Speaking to 350 delegates at Jet2holidays’ annual conference, Bircham said recruitment is the greatest challenge Hays Travel is facing as it recovers from the Covid pandemic.
He told agents there is currently huge opportunity to expand and take on new shops as rent is reasonable and many shopfronts are empty due to businesses closing down over the past few years.
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However, he said Hays Travel cannot move into those shops because they do not have enough staff to run them – a problem he said would be the biggest challenge approaching peaks season.
“Prior to Covid, we would find a new shop, take two staff from our existing network plus three from a competitor and then we would be up and running. That model worked extremely well and we could grow the business quickly,” he said.
“However, that model is out the window now because you can no longer get staff.
“Rent is good at the moment and there are lots of shops available, but until we can get staff we can’t use that opportunity.
“The key for us [ahead of peaks season] is to get staffed up. The customer base is there, we will do a lot of marketing and run a turn of the year campaign so I’m confident we can drag people through the door.
“But our number one objective is to get staffed up.”