James Villas has officially stopped taking any new reservations and plans to close. Parent company Awaze plans to shut down the brand, with 40 jobs at risk. It offered villa holidays at 600 properties across Europe. Awaze CEO Henrik Kjellberg,said: “Our focus at Awaze is to sell holiday homes that we manage exclusively on behalf of our owners.” “We have decided to cease trading with James Villas as that model relied on guaranteed inventory.” “James Villas core inventory represents less than one per cent of our total supply.” Without disclosing specifics, Awaze said it will ‘minimise the impact on our employees, suppliers and customers.’ Employees are being consulted about the next steps. All James Villas customers with bookings are being contacted this week. Those with close-in villa holidays returning by the end of November won’t be unaffected The rest will be offered a full refund or the option to book another Awaze Group property. Other Awaze managed brands include Hoseasons, NOVASOL and Cottages.com.

James Villas has formed a new trade team to boost travel agent relations. The new team is formed within the James Villas guest relations team, focused on supporting the trade. The team is led by manager, Alison Burton, who has more than 20 years' experience in the travel industry. She spent 15 years with Thomas Cook and two at Hays. She has also held trade facing roles at Stena Line and Sandals & Beaches Resorts and has extensive experience working with home workers and independent agents. Burton leads the trade relations strategy, including organising face to face and video sessions, in-branch training, online and self-learning training modules and incentives. "I am really looking forward to working with the travel trade again, and reconnecting with industry colleagues.” “I can't wait to get out and about, meeting up with agents and sharing information about the incredible breadth of product." Joining Burton in the trade team are Aimie Fisher and Lauren White, both as guest operations specialists James Villas has worked on simplifying its product offering over the past year, focusing on core destinations. Dave Woollcott was appointed GM in July, to lead a renewed focus on trade relations along with technology, marketing, and guest experience.

James Villas has added more than 3,200 new Croatia villa rentals. The villa specialist says it now has the broadest collection of managed Croatia properties of any UK supplier. James Villas has consolidated its growth plans in the past two years to focus on accommodation-only holidays. It now has more than 7,000 properties on sale. The majority of the Croatia villas are in Istria, with some in Split, Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Islands. The new Croatia properties have been added from sister company, Novasol.