Irene Hays, boss of national travel chain Hays Travel delivers her business prediction for 2025

Dame Irene Hays paid tribute to her ‘fantastic’ staff as the company got ready to celebrate a milestone year.

A network of almost 500 branches

The Hays Travel brand has expanded from its Sunderland and Seaham bases in 1980 to a huge network of nearly 500 stores and shops across the UK now.

It’s success is down to the ‘work ethic across the country and the way that they care for customers in that they know that I feel that they are my representative, ” said Dame Irene.

She looked into the future and said: “People are travelling more. People want holidays which are further afield.

‘Well placed’ for growth in 2025

“They are travelling more than once and they want experiential travel. And the cruise market has grown significantly.

“All of those, I think, will be important factors which will influence travel in 2025. It's not to say it's not without its challenges. You know, climate change, world events, unfortunately, wars or insurgencies in the Red Sea or Syria or the Ukraine, which impact destinations.

“But we manage all of that. We do that really well. We think it's just part of the job in Hayes Travel that we care for our customers and manage it all.

It all started in the back of a babywear shop

“So I'm not saying that the whole picture in 2025 will be rosy but there's a fantastic opportunity for more growth and I think we're well placed here.”

Her late husband John started the business in 1980 from the back of his mum’s babywear shop in Seaham, County Durham.

He sold Butlins and Pontins holidays, and coach trips to places like York and Edinburgh and Blackpool, all from a laminated dressing table.

The company expanded steadily with shops opening up across the North East. In 1990, the first Hays Travel call centre opened, and in 1995 the Hays Travel Independence Group was formed.

Turnover has reached £2billion

The company turnover reached £500 million by 2012, £1 billion by 2020 and £2 billion this year.

Dame Irene said: “Turnover was £812 in the first year. So this year, the total transaction value was £2.55 billion, 4,800 people.”

The company became a household name - and John and Irene became known as the ‘heroes of the High Street’ - after the takeover and rescue of the Thomas Cook shops in 2019.

Dame Irene explained: “ At the start, it was a cherry-picking exercise to take best locations and the ones, the shops that we knew were doing particularly well.

“We eventually came to the conclusion that we should just bid for all of them.”

Tough days in 2019 and 2020

Darker times lay ahead when John Hays passed away in 2020 and the company faced up to the pandemic.

Dame Irene described them as ‘very challenging’ but she added: “The team here at Hays Travel are exceptional. And everybody stepped up to the plate and did their bit.”

“We do lots of events for our people. We're very grateful for them and lots of different rewards and opportunities to say thank you. But their hard work is fantastic.”