Thomas Cook owner Hays Travel to hire 1,500 extra staff

Travel agent Hays Travel, which snapped up Thomas Cook after it collapsed in October, on Thursday announced plans to hire 1,500 additional staff.

The new roles include include 200 new posts at the company’s head office in Sunderland, 500 jobs handling foreign currency in each of the new Hays Travel stores around the UK and apprenticeships at each of Hays Travel’s 737 branches.

Hays acquired all of Thomas Cook's 555 shops after the historic travel firm's collapse, while it has also employed and offered permanent contracts to 2,330 former workers.

450 of the new stores have opened in the six weeks since their acquisition, while Hays said it is in discussions with landlords across the UK to extend and enhance the leases beyond their existing terms.

Managing director John Hays said: "These are fantastic permanent career opportunities for people who want to take a step into an exciting industry where every day is different. You don’t necessarily need travel experience – just an enthusiasm for travel, a good head for numbers for the foreign exchange posts and some customer service experience of any kind would be helpful."