Leger Holidays, the escorted touring company, has announced that it will soon acquire the assets of former competitor, Shearings, whose parent company, Specialist Leisure Group went into administration on May 22
The deal will see Leger Holidays acquire the Shearings brand, its website and customer databases, and relaunch it as a standalone brand in its escorted tours portfolio. Shearings had been in the trade for more than one hundred years now.
Among the former competitors, Leger?s focus was on European tours, while Shearings was known for its UK coach tours. The companies targeted their marketing efforts at the silver market demographic, which mostly includes people who are 60 years old and above.
Leger Holidays? chief executive Ian Henry said: ?We have gone into this deal, knowing that the two brands already have many synergies - similar products, customers demographics, experience values, impressive repeat business and customer loyalty.?
?We are particularly keen to develop Shearings? popular UK tours portfolio and increase our UK tours market share. We are predicting an increase in staycations post COVID-19 and will be launching, as many as thirty new UK tours for 2021 and beyond,? added Henry. ?This acquisition will not just save the Shearings brand, but reinforce Leger Holidays? position as the UK?s largest coach holiday operator,? he remarked.
Leger Holidays will be working with travel agents on the commissionable sale of Shearings? tours and is also open to talks with Shearings? former suppliers.
