Inside Exmouth's newest travel shop

Exmouth's former Thomas Cook store reopened as Hays Travel today and Nub News went along to talk to former Thomas Cook staff about their new positions and how they feel about their former employer's demise.

Last month Thomas Cook went out of business putting at risk 9,000 jobs across the UK but Hays Travel has taken on 555 Thomas Cook shops and says it will employ up to 2,500 former employees.

The company's former store on Exeter Road, which is currently undergoing a refit, is manned by three former Thomas Cook employees. Nub News editor Joe Bulmer caught up with two of them, Jackie Collins and Kayleigh Herbert, earlier today.

Jackie, who was employed by Hayes travel shortly after Thomas Cook went into administration, said: "It's lovely to be back in the shop, the systems are great and it is fantastic to be working as part of a team and part of a bigger family with Hays.

"I'm not sure how things will work out in the future but we will work with what we've got."

Kayleigh, who worked at Thomas Cook's Exeter store before joiningthe Exmouth team, said: "We were devastated by the news Thomas Cook had gone under. It was like a death, you go through all the stages, shock, anger and it is all still very raw.

"Even this morning it's been hard, the community has been lovely and the people who came into store today have been so pleased for us. We did not expect Hays to open all of Thomas Cook's stores, that was a shock."

Jackie was kept on a little longer by Thomas Cook as she was a keyholder so when the job offer came through she was only unemployed for a single day. Kayleigh had to wait a little longer but was given a job on the same day Hays Travel bought all of Thomas Cook's stores.

Jackie is confident that Hays Travel will continue to operate both stores, the former Thomas Cook store on Exeter Road and the existing Hays Travel store on Rolle Street, she said: "I'm not sure what's happening going forward, that's a business decision. However I don't believe they would have taken on the staff with the intention of closing stores."

Thomas Cook's demise has made national news for weeks now, Nub News editor Joe Bulmer asked how Jackie and Kayleigh felt about the coverage on the news, Jackie said: "It's been a bit bizarre to be honest. Thomas Cook has always been top of the news. Anything that happened with Thomas Cook always made national news.

Kayleigh and Jackie only found out they would not be required to work the following day at 3am in the morning via BBC News.

The pair say they were promised individual emails but neither Jackie nor Kayleigh have received that email.

News that staff at Thomas Cook in Exmouth had been made redundant travelled quickly through our community and both ladies were shocked by the response.

They were offered free veg boxes, beauty treatments, free MOTs, banks waived overdraft charges, mobile phone providers waived monthly fees and staff working in London were offered free travel by Megabus and National Express.

Kayleigh said: "The Exmouth community, particularly on Facebook, has been incredible. The response has been entirely positive.

"People have been so supportive and we've received so many good wishes. We've had messages of support from complete strangers. It's been wonderful to read."

Jackie is unhappy with the situation that many Thomas Cook customers found themselves in after the company's demise became apparent, she said: "For me it was being unable to help our customers which really hurt. It was a privilege when someone walked through our door, they could have bought that holiday online. I feel like we let our customers down."

Despite this Jackie and Kayleigh feel positive about the future, Jackie said: "It's just a brand new start for us, we look forward to every day and we are doing everything we can to pay forward the kindness shown to us by Hays, who have been amazing."

Hays Travel, the UK's largest independent travel agent, and Sunderland based company, now has 1,930 former Thomas Cook employees on its books. More applications are being taken and the recruitment helpline is open all week on: 0800 215 5995.

John Hays said: "Irene and I have been taken aback by the good will and well wishes from the public over the past few days. It really has been humbling.

"We're so proud of our wonderful teams, both old and new, who have come together working around the clock to get as many new branches up and running as quickly as possible."

The first Hays Travel holiday booked in a Thomas Cook shop happened last week at the Debenham Centre in South Shields, and since then more bookings have been taking place all over the country.