Hays / Polka Dot and Hays / Millington merger inquiries
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is seeking views on the completed acquisitions by Hays Travel Limited of Polka Dot Travel Limited and The Independent Travel Company Limited (trading as Millington Travel).
Phase 1
Statutory timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 26 January to 9 February 2026 | Invitation to comment (*) |
| 16 December 2025 | Initial enforcement order (**) |
(*) The CMA is inviting comments from any interested party. This case page will be updated when the CMA formally commences its phase 1 investigations.
(**) The CMA has made an initial enforcement order. This case page will be updated when the CMA formally commences its phase 1 investigation.
Invitation to comment: Closes 9 February 2026
26 January 2026: The CMA is issuing this ‘invitation to comment’ to allow interested parties to submit to the CMA any initial views on the impact that the two transactions above could have on competition in the UK. The CMA has not yet launched its formal investigations into these transactions. This invitation to comment is the first part of the CMA’s information-gathering process.
To assist it with this assessment, the CMA invites comments on the transactions from any interested party.
Written representations about any competition issues should be provided by the deadline set out above.
Pre-notification
The CMA has received the necessary information from the parties to commence pre-notification.
Initial enforcement order
16 December 2025: The CMA has served initial enforcement orders under section 72(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002 on Hays Travel Limited, Polka Dot Travel Limited and The Independent Travel Company Limited (trading as Millington Travel).
- (17.12.25)
- (17.12.25)
Contact
Please send written representations about any competition issues to:
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Principal Case Officer: Seamus O’Byrne-Inglis, Seamus.OByrne-Inglis@cma.gov.uk , 020 3738 6967
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Case Officer: Shivani Malik, shivani.malik@cma.gov.uk, 020 3954 8481
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Case Officer: Titilope Adekunle, titilope.adekunle@cma.gov.uk, +4416 1938 0906
Privacy notice
Your name and contact details are your personal data. In collecting, receiving, storing, accessing and using your personal data, the CMA, as controller, is processing your personal data. The CMA processes personal data in accordance with data protection law. The CMA is processing your personal data so that it can contact you again, should it need further help or information from you, in order to carry out its merger work under Part 3 of the Enterprise Act 2002. For more information about how the CMA processes personal data and your rights relating to that data, please see our Privacy Notice.
Updates to this page
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Invitation to comment published
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First published.