Fred Olsen Travel has bought small call centre agency Cruise Options from Holiday Supplies Limited, part of the Kuoni group, for an undisclosed sum. The Southport-based operation has been relocated to Fred Olsen Travel’s headquarters in Ipswich. Staff were offered the option to relocate within the company but none took up the offer. It is understood the…
Fred Olsen Travel buys Cruise Options
Fred Olsen Travel has bought small call centre agency Cruise Options from Holiday Supplies Limited, part of the Kuoni group, for an undisclosed sum.
The Southport-based operation has been relocated to Fred Olsen Travel’s headquarters in Ipswich. Staff were offered the option to relocate within the company but none took up the offer.
It is understood the Kuoni group was planning to shut down the specialist cruise agency, which it acquired in September 2006.
Fred Olsen Travel cruise development manager Clare Dudley said: “We were approached after they had decided they were not going to operate it any more. All the staff were offered positions in our company; we were hoping we could take them on.”
The brand will be retained and the business is currently being run by existing Fred Olsen staff out of Ipswich. “Our plans are to expand it. We bought it particularly for the customer database,” added Dudley, who said the brand is a good fit with sister franchise agency operation GoCruise.
Cruise Options is likely to benefit from better commercial terms already in place with GoCruise, she added.
Dudley said Fred Olsen Travel was keen to invest further in the cruise sector. “We are very keen to invest in further growth in the cruise market. We are always interested and very keen to hear from anyone with similar opportunities,” she said.
