Former Thomas Cook bosses Chris Mottershead, Kathryn Darbandi and Nicki Tempest-Mitchell have joined Barrhead Travel parent firm Travel Leaders Group.

The appointments follow the news that Barrhead Travel plans to open as many as 100 Barrhead-branded stores in the UK and rehire a number of former Thomas Cook employees. To that end a UK-wide recruitment drive is underway and the team will work to implement new store openings across the UK.

Mottershead, a former Thomas Cook executive, will coordinate the expansion effort, while Darbandi and Tempest-Mitchell will work alongside Mottershead to deliver the growth strategy and develop the Barrhead brand across new locations.

Travel Leaders Group chairman Mike Batt said: “Chris, Kathryn and Nicki have an extensive knowledge of the travel retail industry and are very well placed to identify the locations and teams necessary to create a successful retail footprint across the UK.”

Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson added: “Chris and the expansion team will bring valuable insights and experience to help extend Barrhead Travel’s quality service to new communities and we look forward to the first of many new store openings under this initiative.

“It is gratifying to see that they reflect our group values: prizing people development, customer experience and dedication to the high street travel agent.

“As well as taking on former Thomas Cook employees within our existing store network, we are actively recruiting in new areas across the UK.

“We have identified a number of locations and are currently in negotiations to secure premises. The former Thomas Cook employees are hugely talented and we are keen to work with them to reopen new state-of-the-art stores in their local communities as soon as possible.”

Speaking about the expansion plan, Batt added: “Since our acquisition of Barrhead Travel we have been exploring ambitious expansion plans for this trusted brand. The situation with Thomas Cook has accelerated those plans. We believe there is strong demand for the services provided by Barrhead Travel so we are moving full steam ahead with our growth strategy.”

Former Thomas Cook employees can contact the Barrhead recruitment team on 0141 223 6655 or visit www.barrheadtravel.co.uk/careers/current-vacancies