Virgin Holidays has announced further investment in its retail network, including the creation of 20 area manager roles to improve customer service.
It will also open two new v-room stores and is planning to extensively refurbish its concessions in Debenhams and House of Fraser.
The two new stores will open in November this year at Chapel Shopping Centre in Norwich and St David’s Shopping Centre in Cardiff.
Virgin Holidays expects the two stores will employ about 24 staff between them.
The ‘experiential’ design of the v-room stores will now be applied to the Virgin Holidays’ concession stores in Debenhams and House of Fraser to bring them into line with the flagship concept stores.
The multi-million pound refurbishment will take place between July and December this year, and include a shift away from traditional sales desks and till points, to a more ‘relaxed’ area, including red acrylic screens, banquette seating, feature lighting, oak cladding and soft furnishing.
Coinciding with the retail refresh, Virgin Holidays has announced a restructure of its retail teams, which will see the creation of 20 area managers sitting alongside the twelve v-room concept store managers.~
The company said boosting the retail team would allow more of the existing staff to move to front-line sales roles to improve customer service.
It said it would also ’empower’ retail managers, ‘encouraging them to take on a greater managerial role and focus more on upskilling junior team members with exciting learning and development initiatives’.
Sales director Lee Haslett added:"Retail is our single biggest sales channel and is continuing to exceed targets despite volatile market conditions.~ By creating new area manager roles, and re-investing in our existing retail estate, we’re confident the retail division will continue to break new records for us."
