When Don Bircham sold his Hays Travel franchise back to Hays in 2023, he had only one stipulation – he would retain his original store in Mold, North Wales, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary. “I’m not quite ready to go out to pasture, that’s for sure!” he jokes.
Bircham “fell into travel” some 40 years ago after leaving school at 16. Starting at AT Mays in his home town of Kilmarnock, he went on to become Thomas Cook’s regional manager for North Wales and later Co-op Travel’s retail operations manager.
However, in 2000, Bircham found himself at a crossroads – climb the ladder at a bigger company, or strike out on his own. “People said I was daft,” he recalls. “They thought the retail travel industry was coming to an end. Thankfully, I went for it and ended up with a successful business.”
And so Just Go Travel was born and the quaint market town of Mold was to be its home, but it wasn’t long before Bircham took his first step towards forging what was to become a long – and hugely important – partnership with Hays Travel.
“You couldn’t really operate then without an Abta licence, and that required a significant financial bond, which was challenging for most people,” he explains. “So Hays gave many people like myself the opportunity to start their own business without a huge financial outlay.”
Bircham’s relationship with the late John Hays and Dame Irene Hays remained constructive, even after Just Go Travel left Hays to become a First Choice franchisee.
Bircham stresses it was purely a business decision after First Choice restored commission to 14% and nothing to do with his personal relationship with the Hayses. “It was the right decision,” he says. “I have no regrets.”
His success, though, saw Hays come knocking again, and in 2014, it took a 40% stake in the business when the First Choice franchise agreement expired, with Just Go Travel becoming Hays Travel North West.
At the time, Bircham had 17 shops across North Wales, but was eager to expand further. “John and I agreed to expand the brand across the North West,” he recalls. “We really had carte blanche to go for it.”
Branching out
Over the next nine years, Bircham grew Hays Travel North West to 47 shops. But in September 2023, despite coming out of Covid stronger and in a profitable position, he decided to sell all but one of his stores – Mold, of course – to Hays, saying he had achieved everything he could with his business and that he had new projects in mind.
“There was little room for expansion as Hays Travel entered the North West with the purchase of Thomas Cook, so there were fewer options for locations,” he says. “Covid, the business’s strong performance and a lack of opportunity to expand helped me decide it was the right time to sell.”
The emotion, though, when he stood beside Dame Irene Hays and addressed his branch managers on the sale was evident: "I was a mess!" he told TTG a few days later.
Bircham’s focus has since shifted to expanding his restaurant and bar business, aiming to capitalise on investment brought to the region by movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s acquisition of Wrexham FC, of which Bircham is a former chief executive. “The level of investment, how the club has progressed and the work they do in the community has been incredible,” he remarks.
The Mold store, though, has sentimental value for Bircham – and allows him to keep a foothold in travel. “It would have been really difficult for me to walk away from the industry after spending my whole life in it,” he admits. He is currently acting as a consultant to new OTA brand enjoy.co.uk, a member of the Hays Travel Independence Group.
And while Bircham’s involvement in day-to-day shop-floor operations has waned, the store’s 25th anniversary has proved an opportunity to reflect. “People have been very loyal to us, so it will be nice to celebrate with them,” he adds.
