Just over four months since it closed, the former Thomas Cook shop on Strand Street has re-opened its doors.

The store closed when the tour giant collapsed in September, but it has now opened its doors again under the Hays Travel banner ahead of an official opening later this month.

Hays, based in the UK, agreed a deal in October to buy all 555 of Thomas Cook’s shops across the British Isles, including the Douglas unit and has so far opened 470 and taken on 2,300 staff all across the UK.

The company has also confirmed to the Examiner that the shop in the island will be a permanent one, with a foreign exchange counter and it that former Thomas Cook staff have returned to work in the new store.

Manager Sandy Hodgkinson said: ’We are so excited to have opened our doors as Hays Travel. The support we have received from customers old and new has been overwhelming and we can’t wait to get back to finding people their perfect holiday here in Douglas.’

The chairman of the travel agent, Irene Hays, said the company was ’building on the good things Thomas Cook had - not least its people’.

Managing director John Hays added: ’I’m very proud of the fantastic team who have helped me build Hays Travel over almost 40 years and they have worked tirelessly over the last couple of months to bring both companies together successfully and that is down to the talents and commitment of our people.

’We are delighted to have a presence in the Isle of Man for the first time. It’s a wonderful opportunity for all of us.’

While it is the first time Hays will have a branded store in the island, the company has an associate store through Island Travel which is based in Duke Street. Owners Rikki Dunnage and Ed Cox, who also own the Front Porch, have told Business News they both ’wish the new store well’ as it settles back into life in the high street.

Hays currently have eight members of staff in the Douglas store and are still recruiting, for more information, readers can visit https://www.haystravel.co.uk/careers.

When Thomas Cook collapsed, a former member of staff confirmed they had gone home on the Friday with assurances from the company that it would survive its financial problems and that media speculation was over-hyping the issues.

However, following the collapse early in the hours of Monday, September 23, the liquidators handling the shutdown told them they wouldn’t be paid and unless they had worked for the company for a minimum of two years, they wouldn’t be entitled to any redundancy payments.