Fred Olsen Travel acquired Worldspan Travel. This brings its total shop network up to 16.After being approached by the owners, who wanted to retire after 40 years of working on Bournemouth's high street, it purchased the store.Paul Hardwick, Fred Olsen Travel's head of commercial, stated that the opportunity was presented to him by the Pandemic. He explained that an agreement to sell to another party in December had failed due to the outbreak.Hardwick has retained all Worldspan Travels employees, including the manager who worked there for over 30 years and the senior sales manager with 18 years of service.Travel Weekly spoke to him: We've tried, like everyone else, to navigate the pandemic. We have also tried to find opportunities that would allow us to grow stronger and more as we get out of this.Worldspan had a great staff and decent levels forward business. We can't predict the future but we were able to see the work they did before the pandemic. It was clear that we could hire great people and it was a simple decision.It was a great decision.This branch will trade as Worldspan Travel, with Fred Olsen Travel adding to its fascia.Hardwick stated that he would temporarily send one of his employees into the store to assist with the transition, but that little would change.He said that we don't want to alter what was working before the pandemic. It's just about adding a little bit of our marketing to it. We might put a few more coats on it over the next couple weeks, but nothing major.Hardwick describes the acquisition of Worldspan Travel as a result of a collaboration with Milford Travel, Hampshire, last year. In that deal, Fred Olsen purchased the business but did not retain it. Instead, he transferred two part-time employees and a customer database to his own shop nearby.Hardwick said: We didn't keep the branch, because there is a branch four to five miles further down the road.We will be holding bi-weekly pop-ups in the same town as the shop, when restrictions permit. There we can offer travel clinics and old staff will reengage with the community for customers who don't want to travel to our new branch.Hardwick also opened Fred Olsen Travel's new branch in Beccles. He even fitted it out and painted it with the help Steve Williams, the managing director, and the new branch manager to keep the costs down during the pandemic.He stated that he had been studying it for several years. It was the perfect area for our shop, and then came the pandemic. I kept going and looking for opportunities, and found one that was available in the first half of 2012.Although it may seem absurd that the shop was locked down while we tried to buy another one, we were able to secure a short lease with a break so that there wasn't too much risk. I also managed to find someone who I believed could help me create a successful branch. I also had staff I could hire because of the flexible furlough program.Hardwick said: I told the board that I would get paint and that I'll do the painting. The MD also came to help. One of the branch managers from another location came to help. That was the new manager who came in and also helped. It was a team effort and now it is my favorite store.It was amazing that we were able to put this one up in time to open the doors on April 12, when all the retail stores opened across the country. We were welcomed by the mayor of the city and have done promotions with local businesses in order to gain acceptance into the community.Although sales aren't huge, and the timing couldn't have been worse given the events of the past few months, this was about the future. It was all about building and growing the business, with low risks and low costs.Hardwick stated that he is open to hearing from anyone who has a business and is looking for a way to exit, a strategy to continue trading, or any kind of collaboration.He said that he would not say anything else at the moment.
