SCOTTISH company Foreign Currency Services (FCS) joined battle yesterday with the mighty Thomas Cook and other travel agents by launching a currency-by-phone service for holiday and business travellers.
FCS, a family business based in Cumbernauld, but which will move to Stirling next month, already provides such a service for customers of Glasgow-based Direct Holidays and of the John Lewis Partnership in
Edinburgh.
The company was founded with #1250 in 1991 by managing director Derek Somerville, who was formerly Thomas Cook's group and business travel manager for Scotland.
It already buys foreign currency from about 3500 hotels throughout the UK, including the Ritz in London, which offer their overseas visitors a money exchange service.
It is now using the foreign currency acquired through this means - which is either transferred to it physically or through a computer-based clearing system - to fill orders for foreign currency from UK holidaymakers travelling abroad.
Its new service will see foreign currency and travellers cheques delivered to customers' homes or business premises within 48 hours.
FCS will make its money on the spread between the rates at which it sells and buys foreign currency, and there will be no commission or delivery charges. The minimum total order it will take for foreign currency cash and travellers cheques is #250.
Somerville sees FCS's main competition as the travel agents rather than the banks, pointing out that a lot of banks no longer have foreign exchange tellers in their branches and customers have to order currency and travellers cheques in advance.
Thomas Cook, which launched an over-the-phone holiday money service last September, charges a flat #5 handling fee for orders through this channel. There is no additional commission or delivery charge, and orders which are placed before 2.30pm will be delivered to customers' homes by noon the next day.
Even discounting the fact that FCS has no handling charge, the Cumbernauld company's rates yesterday morning compared favourably with those of Thomas Cook.
FCS was selling 240.15 pesetas per pound, compared with Thomas Cook's rate of 239.24. It was offering 9.48 French francs
to the pound, compared with Thomas Cook's 9.459.
Thomas Cook's rate of 1.5964 US dollars to the pound was better than FCS's 1.59, but its flat #5 charge would mean that customers would still have been better opting for FCS for all orders up to nearly #1300.
FCS, which employs only eight people, will take on up to 40, mainly part-time, cashiers as a result of its decision to open its currency-by-phone service to the public.
It will have kindergarten facilities at its new Stirling premises, and hopes to recruit former bank workers who have perhaps taken time out to have children.
The company farms out the taking of orders to Healthcall, which operates call centres in Hamilton and Aberdeen.
It has provided Healthcall with the computer systems which are required to do this.
FCS uses Royal Mail's ''registered-plus post'' service to deliver currency and travellers cheques to its customers.
The company, which made pre-tax profits of about #204,000 in the year to October 31, is also behind the Sky Travel Currency service which TV company BSkyB will begin offering its viewers next week.
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