Hays Travel sees profits leap five years after Cook purchase

Pre-tax profit soared 43% to £73.4 million in the year to 30 April 2024. This compares with £51.5 million in the previous 12 months, which was affected by the pandemic hangover. Total transaction value was £2.55 billion, an increase of 17% on 2022/23.

The latest result means Hays Travel has been back in the black for the past three years. It said increasing consumer confidence in travel, with customers travelling more often and further afield, “and achieving growth plans in all areas” had boosted profitability.

Hays more than trebled its retail estate to 745 shops when it took on Cook’s 555 stores, taking the Hays brand nationwide, although it closed some branches in the following months.

Dame Irene Hays, owner and chair of Hays Travel, said: “We were all devastated by the Thomas Cook news, there were so many excellent people at Thomas Cook and John and I knew we wanted to help.

“We initially looked at a few branches, then decided it was tactically better to bid for them all, which we did on 8 October. A day later we were awarded a licence to operate the entire Thomas Cook retail estate.”

Hays bought the Cook chain 14 weeks before lockdown began. Refunding customers meant it saw a £4.9 million profit in October 2019 turn to a £34.2 million loss in April 2021.

Hays added: “No one could have predicted a global pandemic when we took on Thomas Cook, but even with hindsight I would do it all again. It’s thanks to the effort and resilience of our Hays Travel colleagues and the many colleagues who joined us from Thomas Cook that we were able to care for our customers during lockdown, and were here to help them travel again as soon as the restrictions were lifted.”
 
Since 2019, Hays Travel has made several acquisitions. It acquired the Explorer Franchise in 2021 and Just Go’s 45 north west branches plus Travel House’s 16 shops in south Wales in 2023. It added three Holiday With Us branches in Lincolnshire and 19 Miles Morgan Travel shops in the southwest and south Wales in 2024.
 
“Over the last five years, as we have adapted and continued to grow, I am proud that we have remained true to our vision and values and our strategic priorities: our people, our customers and the communities where we operate,” added Hays.