A NORTH-EAST travel agent is expanding its operations across the UK and training 100 new apprentices as it targets £1bn turnover. .

Hays Travel, the biggest employer in Sunderland city centre, now employs more than 1,000 people, including 406 at its Sunderland headquarters in Vine Place.

The company has recently taken on 100 apprentices, 25 of which are based in the head office and are trained in-house.

John Hays, chairman of Hays Travel, said: “We’re a major trainer and have won many awards for our training team. We not only train apprentices, with many ending up in senior positions in the organisation, but we are accredited to train our own assessors and award NVQs and other nationally recognised certificates.

“We had our first Ofsted inspection last year and we were rated good to excellent, which is something I’m very proud of.”

Hays Travel signed its first franchise deal in August. The deal is with 14 Thomson-First Choice travel retailers in the North West, which will be renamed as Hays Travel and operated under licence to the Sunderland business.

Mr Hays added: “This is our first franchise operation and we are also taking a 40 per cent stake in company in the North. People operating under licence to us is one of the ways forward for us.”

The news comes after the company announced it had acquired another North-East travel agent, Jesmond Travel in Newcastle, to add to its rapidly expanding business.

The growth spurt follows last year’s takeover of Bath Travel, the largest independent travel agent in the South. The deal brought 60 branches on the South Coast from Brighton to Exeter under the Hays Travel brand and added 360 staff.

The high-growth business, which is the UK’s largest third-party agent for market leaders Thomson and Thomas Cook holidays, is also expanding from its primary role as a holiday retailer. Its own tour operator division, Hays Far Away, provides long-haul breaks to destinations including Dubai, the Far East, Australia and the US.

Hays is now targeting a turnover of £1bn in the next five years. Turnover in the year to July 31 stood at £650m, up from £530m the previous year.

But no matter how large the company becomes, Sunderland-born John Hays is committed to remaining in the city centre. The firm, which he started in Seaham in 1980 with just one member of staff, moved into its current head office in 1982. The company has four city centre sites – two buildings in Vine Place, one in Stockton Road and one in Olive Street.

Mr Hays said: “It’s not ideal having four buildings but we’ve done a couple of staff surveys to see whether people would rather locate out of the city centre and have spanking modern new building with us all together. But in both the surveys by a very considerable margin they voted to stay in city centre. There are good transport links and they can pop out at lunchtime and of course the meet for a chat or pint after work.

“Sunderland has a great quality of people. I am very proud of the teams at head office for their attitude, work ethic and superb morale. I was in the Bath Travel head office in Bournemouth and they commented on how friendly and helpful the team is – everything is ‘no bother’.

“No bother sums up the can-do attitude of our staff and Sunderland people in general.”

Councillor Paul Watson, Leader of Sunderland City Council said: “The business is growing strongly and is committed to remaining in the city centre, where its staff play a key role in supporting the local economy. Hays Travel is bringing jobs and income to Sunderland and is a resounding success story for the city.”