A new West Midlands-based force in the travel sector has been born after Midcounties Travel swooped for a £25 million turnover Tamworth group.
Warwickshire-based Midcounties Co-op Travel has acquired Kwik Travel, one of the UK’s leading home working businesses, for an undisclosed sum, increasing its home worker outlets from ten to around 60.
Kwik Travel, with its administration office in Tamworth, was founded in 1994.
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.”
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.”
Claire Willoughby, MD for Kwik Travel, will continue with the business.
