STAFF at the former Thomas Cook store in Solihull have spoken of their delight at keeping the jobs they thought they had lost.
The travel agents are back booking holidays, after the chain was bought by Hays Travel.
Staff were retained at the High Street travel agency when Hays bought Thomas Cook travel agencies this month (October 8).
The travel agency will be rebranded as Hays Travel, with four former employees of Thomas Cook transferring to the new company.
Hays are continuing to recruit travel agents to fill remaining vacancies, with no posts cut at the store.
Thomas Cook, Britain’s oldest travel firm, collapsed last month, after a failure to restructure its debt.
Its store in Solihull, in the Touchwood centre, opened in 2015.
Nicole Thompson, who transferred from the Solihull Thomas Cook to Hays, told us: “Its absolutely fantastic, we can’t quite believe it to be honest.
“Hays seem like a lovely company, it all seems a bit too good to be true.
“It is brilliant to have our jobs back and to be back helping people make their holiday plans and get the best deal.
“We’re already up and running and making bookings – it is unbelievable when you think so many of us were devastated to lose our jobs just three weeks ago.”
The Solihull travel agents was included in the acquisition of Thomas Cook stores by John and Irene Hays, owners of Hays Travel.
The couple bought all of the former 555 Thomas Cook shops.
Hays has now reopened 168 shops, keeping 2,000 staff on in their agencies.
This includes 70 high street shops across the Midlands, many of which have opened their doors already.
Irene Hays, chair of the Hays Travel Group, said: “We are heartened by the support we have had from people who really want to support their local shop and help us keep the travel industry going in their area.”
John Hays, managing director, said: “We have a fantastic team who have helped us build Hays Travel over almost 40 years and now we have extended the family with some very skilled former Thomas Cook colleagues who are just waiting to help people find their dream holiday at the best value we can find.”
