Accommodation specialist Seligo has been sold after its parent, Unpackaged Holidays, went into administration.
The assets of Unpackaged Holidays have been sold to The Travel Club, the only company to make a firm offer.
The Travel Club has agreed to honour all forward bookings where deposits had been received prior to the appointment of the administrators, Shipleys.
The majority of the employees’ jobs have been preserved.
According to a s†atement issued by Shipleys, Birmingham-based Seligo got into difficulty as a result of the shift in the market away from "dynamic" packing to more traditional forms of package holiday, exacerbated by the decline in the value of sterling against the US dollar and the Euro.
“The difficulties facing the travel industry at this time are well documented and, with a reduced margin in forward bookings and the current economic conditions the company was unable to secure further funding,” it said in a statement.
Conrad Beighton, corporate recovery director at Shipleys LLP and joint administrator of Unpackaged Holidays said: "Given the current economic situation, the competitiveness within the industry and the lack of gross margin in the company’s forward bookings, the business had a minimal value and this was reflected in the level of interest from potential purchasers.
“An offer recommended by my agents has been accepted which ensures that a number of jobs have been saved and existing bookings will be honoured, so that customers should not lose their deposits."
"The Travel Club Ltd occupies a different niche in the travel market. It sells a limited and partly exclusive range of packaged accommodation direct to customers on its own database which has been built up over more than 50 years.”
In 2006, Seligo appointed Steven Freudmann as chairman and his brother Tony as a director.
By Bev Fearis
