Online Travel Group Limited in administration
29/9/2008
Specialist travel intermediary, Online Travel Group Limited has been placed in administration. Appointed administrators on Thursday 25 September 2008 were Neil Bennett and Michael Healy of Leonard Curtis who are now in the process of selling these businesses.
The company, originally launched in 1999, had a turnover of £7.7 million for the year to March 2007, up £2.5 million from the previous financial year. Online Travel operated a number of travel websites providing travel insurance, and bookings for ferry crossings, airport parking, hotels and holidays.
"Ferry bookings where passengers have already travelled are largely unaffected" said administrator Neil Bennett. "We understand that forward bookings are mostly being honoured by ferry operators under their agency agreements. All package holidays, confirmed and not yet travelled, are being dealt with by Freedom Travel Group to protect customers' holiday bookings and ensure no disruption to confirmed holiday plans."
Occupying headquarter offices in Covent Garden, central London, and with a call centre in Leeds, Online Travel employed around 20 staff. The 16 staff at the call centre have been made redundant by the administrators since their appointment, there are currently two staff members at the headquarters.
"It is apparent from our brief investigation," says Neil Bennett, "that the company had run out of options. We understand that credit terms had been drastically shortened by key trading partners, and this, combined with the credit crunch and general economic downturn, lead to a dramatic cutback in consumer spending on all but the essentials. We are currently selling parts of the business to preserve value where possible."
