06/07/2012 (press release: Online PR) // Dan Adey
Midcounties Co-op Travel has acquired Kwik Travel, one of the UK’s leading home working businesses.
The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, increases the Society’s network of home workers from 10 to around 60.
Kwik Travel, which has an administration office in Tamworth, Staffordshire, was founded in 1994 and has a turnover of around £25 million.
Alistair Rowland, Group General Manager, Travel Services, Midcounties Co-op Travel, said: “This is a key early acquisition for Co-op Travel as we pursue our strategy of rapid growth as a major independent travel company backed by Co-operative values.
“We are delighted to welcome the Kwik Travel colleagues on board and will be running it as ‘business as usual’. It gives us greater traction in the home worker arena but it’s only a start for what we plan will be a very busy period for our developing online presence, home working and growing branch network.”
Kwik Travel is one of the ‘elite’ partners Teletext chose to stay with when it slimmed the number of retail partners advertising on the www.teletextholidays.co.uk service from 50 to 15.
The acquisition comes just ahead of Co-op Travel launching its own Personal Travel Agents division and website, which will be headed by Sheena Darby, who moved to Midcounties from the Co-operative Travel Group.
Sheena said: “The acquisition of Kwik Travel enables us to ramp up our home working service very quickly. The two businesses between us operate a full suite of models and therefore opportunities for homeworkers to really drive their businesses forward. We are excited to be working with such a talented and knowledgeable team who will continue to deliver the high level of service Kwik Travel has become renowned for.”
Kevin Duckworth, Group Managing Director of the Preston Travel Group, parent company of Kwik, said: “The Group’s strategic focus is to concentrate on its core market-leading trade-facing Tour Operating brands – Longwood Holidays, Preston Holidays, Amathus Holidays.
“We are delighted after several very successful years inside the Group that Kwik Travel now has the opportunity to move onto even greater success having been acquired by a very strong organisation like Midcounties. We wish Midcounties Co-op Travel and all our former colleagues every future success.”
Claire Willoughby, MD for Kwik Travel, will continue with the business.
– ENDS –
Notes to Editors
About the Midcounties Co-operative
The Midcounties Co-operative has its headquarters in Warwickshire, with trading outlets in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and the surrounding counties.
The Society’s trading groups are food retail, funeral, travel, pharmacy, childcare nurseries, employee benefits and energy. The Midcounties Co-operative is the largest independent co-operative society in the UK and has more than 470 branches, and 245,000 active trading members. It is in The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies To Work For list for the second year running.
The Society’s mission statement is ‘To be a successful consumer co-operative working towards creating a better, fairer world, and to enhance the lives of our colleagues, members, customers, and the communities we serve’.
About Co-operative Travel
Co-operative Travel offer a variety of holidays, flights and hotels. They are providers of package holidays, cheap ski holidays for that winter break or holidays to Turkey for some summer sun.
The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives, highlighting the contribution of co-operatives to socio-economic development, particularly their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will highlight the strengths of the co-operative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socio-economic development.
For more information, please contact:
Dan Adey
Daniel.adey@cooptravel.co.uk
01922 700048
Visit: http://www.cooptravel.co.uk/
Social Media Tags:Midcounties Co-operative, package holidays, holidays to Turkey, International Year of Co-operatives, Coop Travel
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