Former Thomas Cook store reopens in Milton Keynes after Hays Travel takeover

Last month, the store's five staff members joined thousands of others across the UK in being made redundant as the holiday giant collapsed.

But holiday firm Hays Travel has bought all 555 former Thomas Cook stores and this week reopened the Milton Keynes store, retaining all five staff members.

Store manager Karen Johnston said her world was turned upside down after the sudden closure of Thomas Cook

“I had worked for Thomas Cook for almost 20 years and had moved here last year from Northern Ireland to take over the store," she explained.

"This was a life changing event for me and I’m so glad for myself and the team that we now have this wonderful opportunity with Hays Travel.

"The team and I have over 100 years experience in the business and we look forward to continuing to deliver outstanding customer service to all our new and returning customers.”

David Harris, 35, highly valued team member, said he and many of the staff had worked at the store for well over a decade, and thanked Hays Travel for giving them their jobs back.

He said: "The future is bright now and we're looking forward to moving on and welcoming our customers back. The Hays Travel takeover was such a relief for us because the store was everything to us and we did not know what direction to go. Now we can continue doing the job we love."

Karen and David, who have both worked in Thomas Cook stores for more than 19 years, said the team have been blown away by the support of Hays travel.

"They've been amazing really, Hays Travel gave us our jobs back without even an interview.”

“All the team would like our former Thomas Cook customers to know we will be on hand to help them out with any claims they need to process and that we will be there for them for all their future travel needs with an all new and exciting range of offers from Hays Travel Westcroft.”