Hays Travel has won a contract with Serco to work on the NHS Test and Trace programme, it has emerged.
The Sunderland company, which became the 海角视频’s largest independent travel agent when it snapped up Thomas Cook shops and staff last year, has been subcontracted by two providers of the Covid-19 response, having pitched for the scheme earlier this year.
The firm, run by husband and wife team John and Irene Hays, also has a deal with French contact centre firm Teleperformance, offering advice on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the Government’s 119 testing centre service.
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Hays Travel made its pitch for the subcontracts back in March, just as the travel industry was thrown into chaos and the Covid-19 virus was spreading around the world.
The company is not directly contracted to the government, but has been subcontracted by the two providers. The size and value of the deal is not known.
Serco is believed to have the largest private contract with the government for Covid-19 contact tracing.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Hays Travel has been subcontracted by Serco to provide support for NHS Test and Trace.
“Hays Travel was also subcontracted by Teleperformance to provide limited support for FCO travel advice at the height of the pandemic and also some support for the 119 service.”
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“As the public would expect, we are doing everything we can to respond to this unprecedented global pandemic – this includes working with public and private sector partners where necessary. All contact tracers and call handlers receive appropriate training and follow detailed procedures and scripts.”
The contracts for Hays Travel come a week after the firm announced it was having to slash more than 850 jobs, after its path to recovery from the coronavirus lockdown impact was derailed by new travel restrictions imposed by the government on tourists going to Spain.
The company said it had been on track for recovery, with work increasing day by day, but the introduction of restrictions for people going to or travelling back from Spain had triggered the cancellations of hundreds of thousands of holidays.
The 878 jobs at risk - out of Hays’ total workforce of 4,500 - are made up of 344 employees who are training as travel consultants and 534 who work in its foreign exchange division.
Company founders Mr and Mrs Hays said they were “devastated” by the job losses, which are the first redundancies in the firm’s 40-year history.
The job losses announcement came days after Mr Hays criticised the Spanish quarantine measures for being too blunt.
His firm had recovered to around half of last year’s levels before the quarantine announcement saw demand drop again.