Munro passed away on Saturday (26 October) at home in Lanarkshire after falling ill during the summer. He leaves wife Susan, daughters Sharon and Wendy, and grandchildren Ross and Hannah.
"On behalf of my sister, Wendy, and I, I’d like to thank everyone across the industry for their kind words and thoughts," Sharon Munro said. "It has brought us some comfort during this sad time."
Following a career spanning more than 50 years, Munro will be remembered as not just one of the agency sector’s greatest proponents, but also one of Scotland’s must successful entrepreneurs.
A banker by background, aged 31, Munro opened his first shop in the Glasgow suburb after which the agency was named in 1975.
He believed he had identifyied a gap in the market for an agency that was open in the evenings and at weekends with most people unable to pop in to book their holidays during the normal 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.
His intuition was proved right and the shop gained a strong local following, with clients queuing up on Saturday mornings to book their holidays.
Despite those initial "tough and long" days, the business grew thanks to the support and dedication of its staff, as well as financing from Munro’s brother Donald, he would later recall.
Barrhead expanded rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s, with Munro opening agencies in many of Scotland’s major towns and cities, capitalising on people’s appetite for travelling abroad.
By the late 2000s, Barrhead had 20 shops and was turning over £100 million a year. Under Munro’s leadership, Barrhead remained a disruptive force in the agency sector, becoming one of the first to launch a website in the late 1990s – a period that also saw Barrhead expand into England.
In 2008, Barrhead opened a number of stores at former petrol stations, allowing families to park up while booking, another of Munro’s innovations.
"I’m often referred to as an entrepreneur, but I don’t like that term at all because I think they take too many risks with other people’s money,” he said during a 2010 interview.
"I would rather be referred to as a good, solid businessman who is more interested in being in business than making a quick killing.”
Munro decided to hand the business over to Sharon in 2007, saying she would take the business “to a much higher level”.
She served as Barrhead’s chief operating officer until 2018, when the company was sold to US travel firm Travel Leaders Group for £36 million.
The agency now has more than 90 shops across the UK and Ireland, and is hopeful of achieving a third consecutive year of record sales in 2025.
“[Munro’s] bold vision fundamentally changed the landscape for high street travel agents across the country,” said a Barrhead spokesperson.
“He made a tremendous contribution to the overall travel industry as well as becoming an influential figure within the Scottish business community.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association added: “Bill had an invaluable and transformational impact on the travel industry, and his legacy is evident in the Scottish travel sector today.
“He will be profoundly missed by all who knew him. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to his wife Susan, daughters Wendy and Sharon, and his wider family and friends.”
