Member Article

Where does North East travel boss John Hays go on holiday?

“Hays Travel, nobody offers you more, ooo-wee-ooo.” Any North Easterners who regularly listen to the radio will know the jolly Beach Boys-esque tinkle of the Hays Travel jingle. Founder and director, John Hays says it was the best bit of marketing he has ever done.

Since issuing Metro Radio with the brief for 30 seconds of sunshine pop some twenty odd years ago, the Sunderland-based travel agent has become a stalwart of the regional high street and is synonymous with suntans and sandals for North East holidaymakers.

John founded the firm in 1980, and grew it from a one-shop operation to an internationally renowned operator.

“In the morning I stand in the shower and think about what needs to be done that day. Once I get into work, the day very quickly looks nothing like what I had planned,” laughs John. The entrepreneur says no two days are alike in the “fast moving” travel industry.

In the face of cheap flights and google-able holiday bookings, Hays has forged a remarkably strong path as a traditional high street travel agent.

John’s style is to get out and about amongst the Hays shops and offices, and admits to only being at his only desk a third of the time.

He says: “I tend to wander round people’s desks and chat to them as I go. I get a much better feel for what’s going on, what moral is like, and how we can progress the business.”

Hays reported sales of £520m in 2012, and climbing, monthly like-for-like sales. The firm have managed this in spite of a dramatically changing industry landscape; one which has left many travel agents for dust.

“The likes of easyJet and Ryanair have rapidly shot up the tables to become some of Europe’s biggest airlines and the vast majority of their flights are booked online, as opposed to walking into a shop or over the telephone.

“We’ve got a multi-channel approach. However clients want to interact, we try to facilitate that. That means shops, telephone and online. We have a sizeable database of customers and it’s really quite interesting when you analyse the data - the same client will often book with us via different channels depending on what they’re doing.

“If someone is booking a city break weekend they might do it online, or if they’re going to Spain for a week they might ring a call centre. When it comes to a big wedding anniversary or an expensive cruise they often want to come in to a shop and discussion it face-to-face.”

The firm also employ a number of homeworkers who develop customer networks in their own neighbourhoods and visit people in their homes to offer a “concierge” type service.

Hays’ model is enduring. In much the same way it has done for years, the firm acts as an agent for other tour operators, including the likes of Thomson and Thomas Cook.

In addition the brand have established their own “bed bank” - a platform designed to give clients accommodation only at competitive prices. John has also introduced money-spinners such as Hays Transfers Ltd

Despite a decline in the high street, Hays shop fronts are still a fixture of North East shopping parades.

“We’ve still got our 43 shops in the North East and have continued to trade well. In fact, I just signed the lease for a new shop in Hexham recently,” John adds, “there’s not many gaps left for us on the map. On a general level, I am concerned about how sad some of the high streets in the North East look.”

And it isn’t just the high street that Hays have had to contend with. John was speaking at an industry conference in the Costa del Sol when the news of Thomas Cook’s financial troubles came to light, sparking a period of uncertainty for the sector.

John explained: “Thomas Cook were probably within hours of going bust. Instead of giving a keynote as I would have done I did a joint talk with the firm’s relationship manager at the conference. We don’t want a big iconic brand like Thomas Cook to go out of business - it would be bad for absolutely everybody in the industry - so we supported them really strongly.

“The new chief executive, Harriet Green, has done an excellent turnaround. Their brand did take a hit for a few months after being in the news for all the wrong reasons.”

It’s against this uncertain backdrop that Hays have continued unscathed and with the backing of a strong balance sheet, John says the firm is now on the acquisition trail. Hays have made a gradual move into the tour operator space, and this is another area John has earmarked for growth.

North Easterners are currently enamoured with the likes of New York and Las Vegas, which John describes as “perennial favourites,” and Far East Asia has started to occupy more Hays brochures as holiday makers become more adventurous.

John adds: “Talk about changes over the last ten years - who would have thought we’d be selling holidays to Cambodia and Vietnam. It’s these long haul places that are going to bring us growth.”

So where does the boss escape to on his summer holiday? John suggests he rarely goes to the same place twice, but one place holds a particular fascination for him.

He explains: “There’s a little island in the Maldives called Makunudu and its certainly not five star, in fact, it might be about no-star. You get there by speed boat, once you’ve changed into your shorts at the airport of course. Even when you’re 100 yards away, you can hardly anything on the horizon, other than a few little bungalows tucked under the palm trees. No swimming pool or tv, its just a beautiful lagoon. I wear bare feet for the whole week, it’s fantastic. You need to be there with someone you get on with, because there’s not much to do.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .