Keith Prowse still trading as parent calls in administrators
Keith Prowse Tickets is continuing to trade normally this week despite an announcement that its parent company is to be placed in administration.
No-one from the company’s management team was available to comment today, but a salesperson from Keith Prowse said the company was still selling tickets and travel packages.
However, Keith Prowse sister brand Theme Park Tickets Direct, has stopped trading as parent Seatem Attraction Tickets prepares to call in administrators.
An automated message on the company’s ticket sales line today said: "We have been advised that Theme Park Tickets Direct has ceased trading." It suggested clients who had booked tickets contact their credit card companies for refunds.
ATD Travel Services, parent of online ticketing agent dosomethingdifferent.com is offering to re-protect customers who had bought tickets from Theme Park Tickets Direct.
Seatem said in a statement that it needed to go into administration while it underwent financial restructuring to secure its future.
A source told TravelMole: "The company has lost some major contracts recently and it has been struggling to refinance for quite a while now.
"It has been talking to a number of people."
Another source close to Keith Prowse added: "The online operators have taken control of the market and they are undercutting the rest; it is very difficult to make money now with all the discounting going on."
The Keith Prowse brand has been established since 1780 but it collapsed in the early 1990s. The attraction tickets side of the business was acquired by Seatem but the hospitality side was sold separately and continues to trade independently as Keith Prowse.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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