TTG Top 50 agency Tailor Made Travel has purchased fellow South Wales agency Regal Travel.
Family-owned Regal Travel, which has been trading for more than 35 years, operates four high street agencies in Bridgend, Maesteg, Porthcawl and Port Talbot, while Tailor Made currently has 14 shops in the region.
Simon Morgan, chief executive of Tailor Made Travel, said: “Regal is a great fit for us, the stores are upmarket and upbeat with a great team of enthusiastic staff.
“Regal Travel has been on our radar for some time and it’s no secret that we have avoided towns where it operated with a view to an acquisition or merger.”
Tailor Made Travel’s Penarth store was named as the top agency in Wales at the TTG Top 50 ceremony last month.
As part of the deal, Regal Travel’s boss Helen Tustin will join Tailor Made’s board as managing director from June 1.
“We are two great Welsh firms that together will strive to move forward,” said Tustin. “Myself and the team are excited to be joining forces with Tailor Made.”
The Regal shops will keep their name until late summer before being rebranded as Tailor Made Travel. But the Regal name will be given new life with the launch of a new tour operator called Regal Holidays.
Morgan added: “The high street is not dead, we are seeing growth from all of our stores as well as a huge increase in experience-based holidays such as touring, multi-centre and cruise. All products which are more difficult to compare and book online.”
“We will become the number one travel retailer in Wales. Our friends at Cooks and Tui are some of our biggest suppliers. There is room for all of us on the high street where an independent product range is also essential to maintain an industry.”