Hays Travel: Embedding apprenticeships at the heart of workforce development
Hays Travel is the UK’s largest independent travel agent with more than 500 branches nationwide.
With a reputation for exceptional customer service, customers trust Hays Travel friendly and professional colleagues for their deep-rooted expertise. It is hugely proud of its 4.9 Trustpilot score – backed by hundreds of thousands of five-star reviews – and to be Which? recommended provider.
Founded in 1980, Hays Travel is a family-owned business that values its people, customers, and the communities where it operates. Each year every branch receives £500 to invest in local causes and the Hays Travel Foundation has donated over £2.3m to help young people reach their potential across health, sport, the arts, and education.
Central to Hays Travel’s enduring success is its long-standing commitment to training and developing its colleagues and providing opportunities for young people to thrive. Apprenticeships have been part of its DNA since the get-go.
For more than four decades, the business has continually invested in nurturing new talent, and today apprenticeships remain a core component of Hays Travel’s people strategy, supporting both entry-level recruitment and internal progression.
Hays Travel provides two apprenticeship options – a Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner and Level 3 Travel Consultant. These programmes are coordinated by an in-house apprenticeships team based at the company’s Sunderland headquarters.
Since 2023, iCQ Awards has supported Hays Travel with its learners and apprenticeship programmes – acting as both End-Point Assessment (EPA) provider and trusted advisor.
Working with iCQ Awards, Hays Travel has benefited from specialist advice and a joint learning approach, ensuring that its apprenticeship programmes remain aligned with sector expectations and regulatory changes. iCQ also helps to streamline processes and strengthen the overall learner experience.
Rachael Allen, Head of Apprenticeships at Hays Travel:
“Working with iCQ Awards has made the EPA process much easier for us.
“Their flexibility and understanding of our business have ensured that assessments are well-managed and responsive to our needs.
“We regard them as a trusted partner who we can rely on for advice and not just a service provider.”
The impact of apprenticeships is evident across Hays Travel: strengthening its talent pipeline and enabling it to develop employees with the right blend of product knowledge, digital capability and customer service expertise.
What’s more, apprenticeship programmes have helped to create clear progression pathways, with many apprentices moving into roles such as assistant branch managers and senior leadership roles.
More broadly, apprenticeships have widened access to careers in travel, particularly for young people entering the profession. Hays Travel has recently expanded its scheme to include subsidiary brands, further embedding apprenticeships as a key driver of growth, opportunity and broader development.
By maintaining a strong focus on apprenticeships and working closely with iCQ Awards, Hays Travel continues to invest in its people and ensure its long-term sustainability. This sustained commitment ensures the business remains well-equipped to meet changing customer expectations while continuing to deliver the high-quality service for which it is known.
