Carruthers added: “It’s nice to sit in our shop in York and hear the Minster Bells chime – we’re 50 metres away from them.”
A repeat customer gave the new Conexo Travel branch its first booking – return flights to New Zealand – shortly after it opened last week.
“The customer said it was great that we were opening up here,” Carruthers continued. “We’ve had some great enquiries so far.”
‘Always looking for opportunities’
Asked whether Conexo Travel – a member of the Hays Travel Independence Group member – would look to continue expanding its retail network, Carruthers said: “We’re always looking for opportunities. It’s very much one shop at a time. We’ve had an eye on York for a while.”
Carruthers confirmed four staff have been recruited to work in the Gillygate branch, but revealed none have previous travel industry experience.
Since launching in 2005, Conexo Travel has had only one branch until last week when it opened its second (Credit: Conexo Travel)
“Everyone is new to travel,” he said, adding: “We will distribute the experience in the Haxby team among the new team and they will learn that way or they will learn online.
“It’s a logistical challenge. We do ask for people with experience, but if they’re well-travelled, we’ll still take them on.”
Carruthers said “quite a few applicants” had completed a travel and tourism course before applying. “I like to see if staff have a passion for travel,” he added.
“These applicants can demonstrate that but they’ve done the course. They knew quite a lot about the tour operators that we work with, so there’s a bit of knowledge there.”