River cruise specialist in administration
Coach and river cruise specialist Phoenix Holidays has ceased trading, following a sharp drop in bookings, with the loss of 23 jobs in the UK and 31 in France.
Around 20 employees at the Gloucester-based business, part of the Take Me Too Group, were told the operator was calling in the administrators last Friday. A handful of staff had already been made redundant earlier in the week.
They are all believed to have been told they were losing their jobs with immediate effect and would receive no redundancy pay.
Phoenix Holidays was founded in 2008 following the collapse of Travelscope the previous year by two former Travelscope managers, Darren Parris and Anu Desai.
In Septemer last year the company claimed to have seen a 400% increase in bookings but administrators PR Booth & Co said the decision had been taken to close the business following a drop in bookings during the fourth quarter of 2011.
No customers are currently abroad and all those with future bookings should get their money back as Phoenix held a trust account where payments were kept until holidays had been completed.
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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