THE American owner of Barrhead Travel has pledged to continue the group’s expansion into England, the new boss of the Glasgow-based business has declared.

Barrhead, which was acquired by US-based Travel Leaders Group (TLG) in February, will open its next destination store in Edinburgh’s Fort Kinnaird retail park. It will take the number of wholly-owned outlets in the group to 36.

But after that the focus of the company’s expansion drive will be in the south of England.

In her first interview as president of the Glasgow-based agency, Jacqueline Dobson declared that, despite the ubiquity of online holiday booking, “customers are coming back to travel agents to get that all-round advice”.

Ms Dobson, who succeeded Sharon Munro at the helm of Barrhead in December, added: “The way we train our consultants, they are experts in their field, whether it is the US they (consumers) are in to talk about or a cruise. They know the destination inside out.

“Customers are definitely coming back to travel agents just for that peace of mind and security.”

There are currently 76 Barrhead Travel outlets across the UK, 35 of which are wholly-owned with the remainder run by franchise partners. At present, four of those company-owned stores are in England, in Cumbria, Leicester, Newcastle and Southampton, with Ms Dobson revealing that Manchester, Leeds and the south of England are now on the firm’s radar.

She said: “We will continue to open stores. We will look at more destination-led stores; we are just about to open Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh. I also want to enhance our online offering to give the customer a better user experience.”