It was my good friend John Hays who’d just bought Bath Travel, and I’d suggested the two brands were not a natural fit. In my defence I did go on to say that if anyone could make it work it would be him – and on that count he has gone on to prove me right. I think John has forgiven me.
Looking back at that deal now it’s clear why the Hays approach to retailing applied to a geographically complementary store network has been a real success story. Hindsight is all well and good, but John had the foresight to see the opportunity and to invest in high street expansion when most others were moving in the opposite direction.
