Hays Travel has acquired Spear Travels Group for an undisclosed sum, taking over Spear Travels’ 12 stores and its network of employees.
Announcing the acquisition, Dame Irene Hays praised group directors Peter and Libby Cookson and Derek Adams, citing their experience and expertise, as well as their staff, as “key factors” in the deal.
“Spear Travels is a perfect fit for us – their range of products, including overland holidays, cruises and tours, are in line with our key objectives and we have a lot to learn from each other. I have enormous respect for Peter, Libby and Derek. They have created excellent, trusted brands with Spear Travels, Broads Travel and Regent Travel. They have a loyal and growing customer base, looked after by exceptional people with unique experience and expertise, whom we are delighted to welcome to the Hays Travel family. I wish Peter, Libby and Derek every happiness and success in the next chapter of their journey,” he said.
Hays Travel said it has no plans to change the branding of the 12 stores, most of which are located in areas where there are no Hays Travel branches.
Bob Cookson, former chief executive of Spear Travels, said: “Of course, selling the business that Libby, Derek and I have worked so hard to build over the last 30 years is a difficult decision. However, we take comfort in the fact that our team has found a new professional family in Hays Travel. All jobs are secure and the team now have more opportunities for growth and professional development – there will be no major disruption to day-to-day activities.”
Spear Travels, which also operates under the Broads Travel and Regent Travel brands, was established in 1983 with its first branch in Upminster, followed 13 years later by a second, in Stoke-on-Trent.
In the same year, the agency opened another store in Boroughbridge and has continued to expand ever since, at one point reaching 13 stores.
Today it has 12 stores, stretching from Middlesbrough in Teesside to Blandford Forum in Dorset, and 10 telecommuters, whom it calls partners, as well as a business travel centre.
Spear Travels bought its 12th branch, the Regent Travel agency with a branch in Staffordshire, in 2023, after which Cookson said it was “great to get back to acquisitions” after the “difficult years of Covid”.
This is Hays Travel’s first acquisition for the new financial year, which began on 1 May 2025. In the last two years, Hays Travel has acquired Just Go Travel, Travel House and Miles Morgan Travel, and added five stores to its retail network.
