Horizon Direct Holidays is preparing to relocate its Glasgow headquarters to Prestwick airport and open its fifth retail store.
The agency will employ eight staff at its new HQ, with half the team handling administration functions to support its homeworking arm.
A further four staff will work on a project “to deliver flights from Prestwick”, further details of which will follow later this year.
Additionally, general manager Peter Finlay told TTG this week the company was waiting on the lease for its fifth retail premises in Aberdeen.
Horizon Direct, founded in 2005 in a spare bedroom, last year opened branches in Montrose, Stonehaven, Shirebrook and Bellshill, each employing four staff – the latter two former Thomas Cook stores.
“We’ve come a long way,” said Finlay. “The Glasgow office just isn’t big enough to cope with the admin functions of a business this size.
“The space at Prestwick is superb – it may as well have been custom made for us. There’s plenty of space there to expand.”
Finlay said Horizon was on the lookout for new staff for the Aberdeen store and the new head office, which is opening in August.
The company’s homeworking division, meanwhile, has grown to 20, with Finlay revealing although Horizon wasn’t now explicitly looking to add more homeworkers, it would never turn down exceptional candidates.
“It’s a nice position to be in,” he said. “There are some brilliant homeworkers out there. It gives us real flexibility.
“Our growth has been very natural. Shirebrook actually came about when a Thomas Cook staff member sent me a message asking if we could keep the store open. Bellshill was the same.
“Everything’s still bedding in and we’ve got no urgent desire to expand again, but when an opportunity comes up, we’re not going to say no.”
Finlay added the agency’s achievements would not have been possible without his team: “When our company grows, everyone has a stake in making it work.”