North East travel agents celebrates billion pound turnover
Hays Travel, which has been providing holidays since 1980, celebrated at their first ever shop in Seaham
The UK's largest independent travel agents, based here in the North East, has celebrated hitting the £1 billion turnover mark
Hays Travel, which has 100 branches across the country, celebrated the announcement with an event at its first ever store in Seaham - which opened in 1980.
To mark the occasion, Managing Director John Hays announced that customers would be able to enter a lottery online, and ten lucky customers would get £1,000 every day for the next 10 days.
John also announced that staff would get a bonus of £100 for every year they've worked with the business.
In total, the company said it was spending £1 million on bonuses and celebrations to thank staff and customers after reaching the milestone.
John Hays told us:
"I'm incredibly proud - and nostalgic - we've got clients here who've booked with us for 38 years and they can still remember what the place used to look like.
"We've got to keep on our times, keep delivering service and price because clients want both - and they also want the certainty that a package holiday provides.
"If you get events like the recent Beast From the East where airports were closed, we're there to actually look after our clients."
It's also been announced that the company will be taking up a new HQ in Keel Square in Sunderland.