Support floods in for out-of-work Malvern team following collapse
A help group has been set up on WhatsApp for people who have lost their jobs as a result of the collapse of Super Break and LateRooms parent Malvern Group.
Messages of support have also been flooding in on LinkedIn for those affected by the sudden demise of the company, which ceased trading last week.
Its collapse was blamed on cash flow pressures following news that its 49% shareholder, Cox & Kings India, had defaulted on its debt repayments
Malvern Group CEO Hugo Kimber posted on LinkedIn to thank colleagues and many others who have sent messages of support and offers of help for the team.
"It certainly was not for lack of effort that we were unable to avoid the consequent impact on our wider team, our commercial network and customer base," he said.
"To all of your reading this, who worked so hard for Malvern Group, many thanks again for all you did to deliver the vision for the business. Your great sense of humour and fabulous team spirit were a major support and I hope that I will be lucky enough to work with some of you again."
Simon Dutton, lead product delivery manager at LateRooms, said the WhatsApp group, for more than 70 staff affected, was a ‘therapy session for us to process what has happened and support each other’.
He said one common theme emerging is the high regard in which everyone held the Kimber and the immense effort that the management team went to in order to avoid this situation.
"If the situation could be reversed we’d all turn up to work on Monday in a heartbeat," he added.
Chris Hagan, director of product supply at Malvern Group, said it was ‘heart breaking today to say goodbye to so many amazing and talented colleagues who are now in search of employment’.
"Employers in York and Manchester would need to go a long way to find a better bunch of people that would be an enormous asset to your business," he said.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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