The latest move sees Hays acquire the Hamilton-based agency from founder Rosie Rutter, who is stepping away from the business she set up in 2002.
It follows Hays’ purchase of 15-branch Midlands miniple Millington Travel earlier this week and 14-branch Polka Dot Travel late last month.
Jonathon Woodall-Johnston (above), Hays Travel's chief operating officer, confirmed The Holiday and Flight Centre’s seven members of staff have joined Hays.
The Holiday and Flight Centre, which also runs the Indulgent Cruises brand, will continue to trade under its existing name, with support from Hays’ head of brands Graeme Tolchard and brands divisional sales manager Danny Marish.
"Rosie Rutter, who established her excellent company 23 years ago, asked us to acquire her business and look after her people, which we have done," said Woodall-Johnston.
"We are impressed by the company’s business model, its excellent product mix and how it cares for its customers. It has been a pleasure to work with Rosie in the handover, and we wish her all the best with her future plans, beginning with some well-earned time off for travel.”
High street takeover
The addition of the Scottish agency means Hays has added 30 new shops to its portfolio over the past two weeks.
Prioer to these deals, Hays Travel bought 12 of Spear Travels Group’s shops and its homeworking division in June, while last year it snapped up Miles Morgan Travel, which now has 20 shops throughout South Wales and the West Country.
In late 2023, the company acquired another South Wales miniple, Travel House, which had 16 shops. This came shortly after Hays took over long-time franchise partner Just Go Travel, which had been trading as Hays Travel North West, adding another 45 shops.
Hays Travel, under its own brand, now has around 530 shops and 4,800 employees in total.
The business expanded enormously just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic when it purchased all of Thomas Cook’s 555 shops after the tour operator collapsed in 2019.
The company now owns more than 600 shops around the UK across all the brands it has recently acquired.
Away from the high street, Sunderland-based Hays also acquired Cruise.co.uk’s parent company Victoria Travel Group in July to grow its presence in the online cruise market.