Thousands of travellers affected as administrators appointed to LateRooms.com and Super Break

Tracey Pye and David Costley-Wood from KPMG Restructuring have been appointed joint administrators to Laterooms Limited, Superbreak Mini-Holidays Limited and Malvern Travel Technology Limited.

In a statement KPMG, said: “Owned by Malvern Group, the Manchester-based companies had recently come under significant cash flow pressure following news that one of the group’s principal shareholders had defaulted on its debt repayments and would not be able to support the business in the short term.

“The businesses ceased operations yesterday, prior to the appointment of the joint administrators.”

The joint administrators are working closely with both ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) and the UK CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) to minimise disruption to customers.

Customers with future bookings made via LateRooms.com and Super Break are advised to visit the website www.laterooms.com and www.superbreak.com where detailed information will be provided about how their bookings will be affected.

The customer contact centre is no longer operational and will not be available for queries.

Tracey Pye, joint administrator, said: “The directors of Malvern Group embarked upon an accelerated sales process to bring further investment into the business. However, with the cash position of the company deteriorating rapidly, this process was unfortunately unsuccessful, prompting the directors to take the difficult decision to appoint the administrators.

“Coming in the midst of the summer holidays, we understand this news will be of grave concern to 23,000 LateRooms.com and 19,000 Super Break customers who have future bookings with the group.

“Detailed information regarding how bookings will be affected can be found on the LateRooms.com and Super Break websites. Unfortunately the customer contact centre is no longer operational, so we kindly request passengers do refer to the information online in the first instance.

“We continue to invite offers for the business, and would urge any interested parties to make their interest known as soon as possible.”

The companies employed 253 employees across sites in both Manchester and York. With operations ceasing immediately upon the appointment of the joint administrators, the majority of employees have been stood down while the joint administrators assess options for the business.

The joint administrators have retained 43 employees as they continue to seek buyers for the business and its assets.