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Clive Allard’s company set for voluntary liquidation
A Kent-based agency accused of taking money from customers but not confirming flight reservations is set to go into voluntary liquidation.
London insolvency firm Antony Batty and Company has written to all those affected to invite them to a creditors’ meeting on November 13.
Blue Skies Travel (UK) Ltd, which traded as Bright Skies Travel and Fly Vacations, is run by Clive Allard, the former boss of Travellers Cities which collapsed two years ago leaving agents out of pocket.
It is not connected to Cardiff-based Blue Skies Travel, which is part of Hays Travel and trading well.
Allard’s company was being investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority following complaints from customers who booked holidays to the US but never got confirmation of reservations from the airlines.
Some say they were never issued with an ATOL, despite claims by Blue Skies Travel (UK) that it was acting as an agent for ATOL-holder Major Travel.
One customer told TravelMole her reservation for a New York flight in November, booked with Bright Skies Travel, was cancelled by Virgin Atlantic. When she contacted the airline, it said Allard had failed to make the payment.
She said Allard told her it was an error by Virgin and promised to call her back within the hour, but she never heard from him again.
She claimed she wasn’t issued with an ATOL certificate despite having received an email from Allard prior to booking assuring her that her money would be protected by Major Travel’s ATOL.
Several other customers had taken to TripAdvisor to voice their concerns after discovering that their flights reservations didn’t exist and they were unable to contact Allard.
The original TripAdvisor forum has been closed but another started this week in which customers have questioned how Allard was allowed to start up another travel business.
According to Antony Batty and Company, when a company goes into liquidation it is investigated by the Government Insolvency Service to see it there was any misconduct involved. If not, a business owner is allowed to set up another company under a different name.
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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