Our people
At Hays Travel we recognise and value our people and are committed to development and progression through training and coaching. We believe our apprentices today have the potential to be the business leaders of tomorrow. We are extremely proud of our apprenticeship programme and the success it brings to individuals and our company.
At Hays Travel we are dedicated to ensuring our staff feel rewarded, engaged and motivated, maximising job satisfaction in a friendly, fun and supportive environment.
“I didn’t want to be just another number”
Mary - Washington Branch
Mary was a customer service manager at Thomas Cook for 23 years but felt she was ready for a change. She’d heard really good things about Hays and a couple of her friends had already moved over and loved it. Mary found the recruitment process excellent and any doubts she had had about making the move quickly evaporated. She says she immediately found the company very professional and welcoming and has found the support ‘immense’. She says that the company is much more relaxed than what she had experienced in the past and there is definitely a fun element to coming into work. She says her customers and colleagues are great, and that everyone helps each other out. Mary said: “There is such a nice atmosphere in the shop that it makes you want to get up and get to work. I told my hubby the other night how excited I was to get to work next day and he said to me, ‘are you mad?!’ I just wish I had made the change years ago.
“I wanted to be the best I could be”
Colin - Washington
Colin joined Hays Travel in September 2012 after a short stint with Thomas Cook and 29 years with Cooperative Travel. Colin says that one thing he has really noticed about Hays Travel is that the people who work there really want to work there. He likes the fact that the customer is the number one focus and everything else is secondary. Being encouraged to do the best for the customer is what brings the greatest job satisfaction. Colin says that when he joined the company he was already an experienced manager but Hays helped him identify things he could be doing even better and made him realise he wasn’t working to his full potential. And it didn’t stop at just pointing out things that he could do better, that was followed up by the training team helping him to find courses and training modules that could really make a difference. Colin says the support he receives from Hays, both professionally and personally, is invaluable. Whatever situation comes up, he knows there is someone there to help. And Colin feels that because he is so well supported, he has the knowledge and confidence to pass on that support to the staff in his branch. The company’s culture of support trickles down so that everyone feels encouraged to be the best they can be. Colin says: “I want to be able to give the apprentices in my branch the time and focus they deserve. After all, they are the future of the company.”
“I wanted a career in travel”
Claire - St Thomas Branch
Claire started with Hays in 2015 after finishing a travel degree at university. She wanted to get a job in the industry and looked straight to Hays to find it. Claire says that as soon as she first made contact with the company she was made to feel really welcome and everyone was really relaxed and friendly. She’s found the support and training she’s received since starting amazing. Claire found the direct support from her manager brilliant, then when she started the Rising Stars programme she got even more support from the training team and her regional manager. Claire loves working for a company where it’s normal to be on first name terms with senior management and you’re known as a person and not just a number.
“I was looking to secure my future”
Amanda - Consett Branch
Always having a passion for travel, Amanda started working for Hays Travel as an apprentice in 2000. Knowing that she wanted to pursue a career in the travel industry, Amanda was immediately attracted to Hays not only because of its independence but because it was a local North East company. After working her way up the career ladder she strongly believes that the Hays Travel training department is the ‘best of the best’. She believes that she would not be where she is today without the support and amazing award-winning training she has received from our dedicated trainers. Having completed the Rising Stars and Team Leading programmes Amanda has been able to develop her skills and even now as a manager she gets to keep growing her skill set with training focused on her own personal development. Amanda still maintains that after 19 years Hays Travel really do look after their people. Amanda sees John an inspirational leader and thinks it’s wonderful how he makes so much effort to get to know the individuals working for him, helping to make the staff share his vision and believe in his leadership. She has every confidence that the closeness of staff, the team spirit and family atmosphere is what makes Hays Travel such a great place to work.