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Portman buys Fleet Street Travel
Portman Travel’s parent company has acquired Fleet Street Travel in a multi-million-pound deal.
Founded in 1986, Fleet Street Travel has six offices in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.
As part of the acquisition, Fleet Street managing director Michael Hare will join the board and executive team of Portman Travel, which comprises Graham Flack, chief executive, David Canavan, finance director and Bob Govan, marketing and development director.
Portman, which purchased P&O Travel in November 2006, said the move would strengthen its network of specialist business travel centres in major towns and cities across the UK.
Graham Flack, Portman chief executive, said the acquisition was part of a strategy to grow the business both organically and through acquisition.
“We have substantial appetite for further such acquisitions which deliver this mix of client benefits and superior growth prospects,” he said.
He said this strategy was supported its investor, private equity firm Vision Capital.
Portman said its turnover in 2008 is projected to exceed £400m, compared with £296m in 2007.
By Bev Fearis
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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