Another Newcastle Travel Agency Goes Bust.
Horncastle Executive Travel, which had been in business for more than 50 years, had sites in Newcastle, Norwich and Edinburgh. A second North East travel firm has entered administration in less than two weeks, with a leading travel executive saying it has been a “very difficult year for the travel industry”.
Horncastle Executive Travel, which had been in business for more than 50 years, ceased trading with immediate effect on November 11, just days after fellow Newcastle firm Courtney Airsavers shut down.
Horncastle was headquartered at Hadrian House in Newcastle city centre, but also had offices in Edinburgh and Norwich. The firm entered administration last week after appointing David Kemp and Richard Hunt, from SFP Group, as its administrators.
The business’ closure was announced by travel association Abta, which said: “We are sorry to inform you that Horncastle Executive Travel Ltd has ceased trading with effect from 11 November 2020.
“The majority of travel arranged booked by Horncastle Executive Travel Ltd were for business travel. The company also sold some Atol flight inclusive packages, scheduled airline tickets under its IATA licence and retail bookings.”
On its website, Horncastle Executive Travel warned that not all of its holidays and travel services were Atol protected, meaning some customers may not be able to reclaim their money.
Packaged holidays that have been booked with flights included will be covered by the Atol protection scheme. But Abta also warned that corporate clients that have booked flights through the firm are not ABTA protected and will need to contact the airline directly to see if their booking is still available.
Independent travel companies have suffered particularly badly during the pandemic, with businesses being forced to cancel and refund bookings due to the outbreak.
Graeme Brett, North East regional chair of Abta and director of Westoe Travel in South Tyneside, said: “It has been a very difficult year for the travel industry and the travel agents as they receive their commission when a customers travels. With so many bookings cancelled the agents have had to refund their commission back to the customers.
“Most companies that we have spoken to are very strong next year, for 2021, but with the cash flow the companies won’t earn their money until the customer travels.
“It is really sad that we have lost two long established companies from Newcastle that were very well known for their business expertise, but then business people have not been travelling as well.”
Abta estimates that around 164,000 jobs have been lost in the UK travel sector. These range from the 30,000 jobs cut by British Airways, to smaller job losses made at independent travel firms.
Mr Brett said that many travel companies were not able to receive financial support at the start of lockdown as they were unable to access the furlough scheme
The Government only subsidised workers’ pay if they were unable to work but most travel companies were forced to keep staff on while they issued refunds to customers – effectively handing back their income while continuing to pay costs.
While firms such Horncastle and Courtney Airsavers were unable to last out the harsh economy, Mr Brett says those who have survived have strong order books. He said: “Next year is looking really strong as people are booking as they want something to look forward to.”