Hays acquires holiday group with 12 branches

NORTH East holiday company Hays Travel has acquired Essex business Spear Travels Group, together with its branches across the UK.

- COREENA FORD

Based in Upminster, Essex, Spear Travel Group has 12 branches in key towns including Skipton, Stokesley, Wolverhampton, Blanford and Northallerton, as well as a network of homeworkers.

The acquisition marks the first of the new financial year for Hays Travel and comes almost a year to the day since the Sunderland-based group acquired Welsh travel company Miles Morgan Travel and its 19 branches, which grew to 20 recently with the opening of a new branch in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

Dame Irene Hays, chair and co-founder of Hays Travel, praised Spear Travels directors Peter and Libby Cookson and Derek Adams on their excellent business, citing the expertise and experience of Spear’s people as a key factor in the deal.