The firm also topped the list of 22 online, retail and hospitality businesses in the tourism category
Dame Irene Hays, owner of Hays Travel(Image: North News & Pictures Ltd nort)
Sunderland holiday company Hays Travel has come third in a high profile UK list ranking almost 300 online and retail organisations.
The independent travel business, was topped only by high street retailer John Lewis and banking giant first direct in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), in the first year that Hays has been included. The UKCSI is the national barometer of customer satisfaction which is published twice a year by The Institute of Customer Service, and the most recent lists the 272 highest rated firms.
Dame Irene Hays, owner and chair of Hays Travel, attended the launch of the latest UKCSI results and joined a panel chaired by Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service, alongside Chris Pitt CEO of first direct.
Dame Irene said: “I’m very proud of all our people for their work to achieve this, making sure our customers are cared for is at the heart of our business success. We are delighted to achieve third place in our first appearance on the UK Customer Satisfaction Index.
“Hays Travel has a long-held reputation for providing exceptional service and we know how important the care, professionalism and expertise of our people is to our customers.”
The Institute of Customer Service is the UK’s independent professional customer service body, helping organisations across all sectors improve their performance by enhancing their customer experience.
Its CEO Ms Causon said: “Being ranked third in the January 2026 UK Customer Satisfaction Index is a strong endorsement of Hays Travel’s continued commitment to putting customers at the heart of the business. In a highly competitive sector, this result reflects the organisation’s focus on trusted advice, personal service and consistently delivering experiences that build confidence and loyalty among customers.”
First issued in 2008, the UKCSI is an independent benchmark of customer satisfaction on a consistent set of measures on 272 organisations and organisation types in 13 sectors. It provides businesses and customers a means to track and compare customer satisfaction performance across the UK economy.
First direct topped the list with a score of 87, followed by John Lewis with 86.4 and Hays with 86.2. The top 10 also included Nationwide building society, Jet2Holidays.com, Starling Bank, PetPlan, Tesco Mobile, PayPal, Holland & Barrett, M&S and M&S Food.
Meanwhile, Hays Travel topped the list of 22 online, retail and hospitality businesses in the tourism category which included the likes of Airbnb, Premier Inn, On the Beach, Trivago, Hilton, easyJet Holidays and Expedia.
