Escorted touring company Leger Holidays has announced the acquisition of the assets of former competitor Shearings.

Specialist Leisure Group, owner of the Shearings brand, entered administration after more than one hundred years trading last month, leaving the future of the company in the balance.

The new deal will see Leger acquire the brand, website and customer database of the operator.

Leger Holidays and Shearings formerly competed head-to-head in the escorted coach tours arena, with the former focusing on European tours while the latter was best known for UK coach trips. 

Both companies concentrated marketing efforts on the 60-years plus, ‘silver’ demographic.

Leger Holidays chief executive, Ian Henry, said: “I am delighted that Leger Holidays will be bringing the iconic Shearings brand back to life and relaunching it as a stand-alone brand in our escorted tours portfolio. 

“We have gone into this deal knowing that the two brands already have many synergies - similar product, customer demographic, experience values, impressive repeat business and customer loyalty and, as such, we already have the business model in place to seamlessly relaunch Shearings.

“Leger Holidays has nearly 40 years’ experience in escorted tours - we are not recklessly helicoptering into unknown territory!”

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.

“We are particularly keen to develop Shearings’ popular UK tours portfolio and increase our UK tours market share.

“Post Covid-19 we are predicting an increase in staycations and will be very quickly launching around thirty new UK tours for 2021 and beyond,” added Henry.

“This deal will not only save the Shearings brand but will reinforce Leger Holidays’ position as the UK’s largest coach holiday operator.”