The miniple will open its 18th shop in the Longton area of Stoke-on-Trent within the next few weeks staffed by Donna Jones and her team.

Jones and fellow team member Lisa Colclough contacted Polka Dot the day after Cook collapsed asking them to open a shop in the Staffordshire city.

The team received national press coverage for their actions in the wake of Cook’s failure after hosting a pop-up advice session for clients.

Jones said she and her colleagues were "absolutely over the moon" to be joining Polka Dot.

Director Mark Johnson said Polka Dot’s plans to open 30 stores by the end of 2020 "remained unchanged".

"We are planning to expand our network at a sensible rate and will continue to look for suitable units in our preferred locations as we have always done," he said.

"This may include former Thomas Cook’s units if, and when they become available, but that won’t influence our decision to open in a town, nor will it create urgency for us to grow beyond what we deem to be a sensible growth rate.

"We have had huge success opening new stores next door to many of our competitors and will happily continue with this approach”.

While waiting for their new store to open, the Longton team will be engaging with customers via a newly launched Polka Dot Travel Longton Facebook page and hosting pop-up events in the area.

Aislinn Tilsley, Polka Dot’s head of marketing and business development, added: “From the moment we met Donna and the team we knew that they would be a great fit for our business. They have shown great strength and resilience in the weeks after the Thomas Cook collapse and remained professional and committed to serving their customers.

"They should be extremely proud of themselves and we are delighted that they have chosen to join us at Polka Dot Travel given the numerous offers they received."