Jobs safe following Avion deal
Staff at Travel City Direct have been told their jobs are safe following the acquisition of parent company The Really Great Holiday Company by Icelandic transport firm Avion.
Travel City Direct managing director Geoff Medhurst and finance director Mike Stoney toured its call centres in Blackpool, Swansea and Gatwick to personally reassure staff they were not at risk.
They were told that rather than facing cutbacks, the company would in fact expand.
The reassurance to the company’s 320 workers came as Avion – which owns Excel Airways and Freedom Flights – created the eighth largest UK travel group following the acquisition of RGH for an undisclosed sum. Along with Travel City Direct, RGH also operates Transatlantic Vacations and Carshop.
Medhurst and Stoney will both remain with Travel City Direct as will long haul sales and marketing director Steve Boardman and short haul sales and marketing director Tony James.
However, board members Tom Jones and Trevor Wignall, who held an undisclosed shareholding in the company, will leave.
A spokeswoman stressed the deal would enable the company to expand further and give it access to a greater level of funding. Avion plans to float on the Icelandic Stock Exchange later this year.
“Travel City Direct is also teaming up with Excel Airlines, a leading brand in the short haul sector, so there are possibilities to open up new programmes,” she said.
Although Travel City Direct operates to Spain, it specialises in budget holidays to Florida with 170,000 customers travelling with the company in 2004. It is second in volume only to Virgin Holidays.
It operates up to 14 own-branded flights from Gatwick to Florida each week, using aircraft Air Atlanta aircraft, which is also owned by Avion.
Report by Steve Jones
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