By the time 60 Bath Travel managers arrived in Vilamoura for the Hays Travel Retail conference this week, some of their shops were sporting a rather sparkly new look.
Hays acquired the Bournemouth-based chain in October 2013. Its heartland includes many sedate south-coast retirement towns, and its clientele, while often affluent, leans towards the more mature.
Up in the grittier north-east, however Hays Travel founder John Hays was aware this couldn’t continue and he now hopes to attract younger customers with a new look inside the shops and - risky this one - an updated logo.
There will be sharp intakes of breath from some, but if anyone can get away with it, surely Hays can.
“For many, many years, Bath has just been appealing to its existing customer base, you can’t just do that,” he says, admitting the decision to refresh the image was a tough call. “I can’t tell you how long we agonised over it.”
In the end, he was convinced. “The logo has been the same for 50 years. The image doesn’t really welcome younger people.”
Fresh new colour
The rebranding is the most immediately obvious change to Bath Travel, apart from the rebirth of branches in Honiton and Boscombe, previously deemed unprofitable. “We looked at the potential and reopened them,” he says.
All 400 staff received new computers and uniforms, 50 apprentices were appointed and the selling system was replaced within six weeks. The first Christmas party for years saw a near 100% turnout.
“This conference is really important for us because it’s the first since we bought Bath”
One tradition was adapted for Bath, Hays’ 25-year-old advertising jingle. “We tracked down the original singer, believe it or not,” Hays says. This accompanied adverts aimed at younger clients and appears to have worked - nearly a third of customers to the agency in the past three months have been new clients, 10 times the figure a year ago. A “much bigger” campaign is planned over Christmas, including TV adverts.
Next year, all branches will have the new look and include dedicated foreign exchange bureaus. Meanwhile however, there’s the next conference for the Independence Group this weekend, also in Vilamoura. Speakers include the former head of customer services at John Lewis Andrew McMillan and Celebrity Cruises UK boss Jo Rzymowska. There will also be a day of closed sessions that filter the Hays magic down to frontline staff via presentations from its top team.
Around 150 will be in attendance, with the theme being customer engagement and customer service excellence. “This conference is really important for us because it’s the first since we bought Bath. Last year we took out 12 managers as observers but we had only just taken them over,” says Hays.
Added to these are the 14 former First Choice and Thomson branches run by the Just Go franchise in which Hays bought a 40% stake in August.
Bonus time
“We’ve had a really strong year - revenue is up 15% year-on-year and staff will get their bonuses in December. For the past 18 months to two years, people have come back to the high street.” As a result, four new shops were opened in Hexham, Darlington, Jesmond and Redcar, giving Hays Travel 59 branches.
“We wouldn’t be opening them if we were not trading profitably.” There are also 190 homeworkers and Personal Travel Agents under the Hays Travel umbrella.
The “big win” for Hays Travel, he says, has been its own tour operator. “It is a major part of why the shops are doing so well.”
“I’m a big advocate of the high street, but I’m not a dinosaur, we do a lot on the web”
An example, he says, is the second edition North America programme, increased from 70 to 180 pages. A Channel Islands programme has just been released and an Australia and New Zealand brochure is due soon.
The latter venture was prompted in part by the Bath Travel acquisition. Bath had a shop in Christchurch dedicated to the two countries and now these specialist staff and a dedicated cruise team is in Bournemouth taking calls.
“We cover the whole world electronically, but paper brochures are still effective,” he says, adding however that the bulk of short-haul sales are now online. “I’m a big advocate of the high street, but I’m not a dinosaur, we do a lot on the web.”
The tour operating programmes are being offered outside the group and are used by the 125 Hays Independence Group members, who have a combined 232 outlets and call centres. Hays insists the few who defected to nearby rival consortia Broadway Travel have made no difference. “We lost four a few years ago. Overall volumes are up.”
Asked what the Hays secret is, he offers a few reasons for the success of his brand. “In the retail environment, we do the basics really well in terms of staff training and levels of customer service. Client expectations get higher every year and we have a really good training department.”
Building loyalty
Personal communication is key, he believes, with welcome home cards and emails a part of this. “You have to engage them beyond the sale itself.”
He adds that the group’s size means it can be price competitive. “Our brand name proposition is to be competitive, but not to be a discount brand.”
“Really good” technology is a key part. “With Bath Travel we have taken good people and given them the tools. At the end of the day it’s about people and I’m proud of them.”
Any suggestion that Hays wants to hand over to them and enjoy the fruits of his labours is met with an emphatic Sunderland “nope”. “I can honestly say I just look forward to going to work as much as I ever have. I could have sold or retired a long time ago, but what would I do?”
He does make one concession, however. “We have our retail managers conference immediately before the Independence Group conference. We’ll have to stop doing it because the partying knackers me after three or four days. I’m going to have to have at least a day’s breather.”
