The Hays Travel Academy was originally launched in September last year to enable those without previous travel sales experience to join the company as a travel consultant.

Following the success of the programme with its retail network, the brand has now said it wants to extend the training across its call centre departments.

So far the agency chain has placed 15 travel consultants in its stores. The scheme will now be expanded to Hays’ digital call centre telesales departments.

Adam Dobinson, Hays Travel Academy trainer, told TTG the initiative enabled the company to introduce “new talent” and that it would soon begin assessing applicants and conducting interviews with candidates on a case-for-case basis.

“Encouraging learning and development is what we pride ourselves on at Hays and John [Hays, owner and managing director of Hays Travel] always says the business is about the people – without the people the business wouldn’t be anything. That’s how we all look at it too.

“It’s bringing new talent into the business and people who have the passion to succeed. Having people from many different backgrounds with different skills is only going to improve the business as we continue to expand.”

Once accepted onto the scheme, candidates will undergo a mixture of individual and group-based learning as well as work experience placements.

Training includes an induction to the Hays brand and its company culture, practice and processes, systems training, customer service and sales coaching and self-motivation and confidence-building exercises.

Dobinson said he expected candidates to complete the course within six months.

He added: “We wouldn’t want to turn somebody away because they hadn’t worked in travel before.

“For us, seeing people learn and grow as they join the travel industry and see what it can offer them is extremely worthwhile.”