URBANWEB is considering selling off its DanceXport
business as it puts a stop to investment in the youth brand to concentrate on
its core Holidays By Phone operations.
The decision to stop funding the development of
on-line youth agency DanceXport led to the departure of managing director Mike
Bayon last month.
New Holidays By Phone managing director Mark Oakes –
who took over from Urbanweb founder Steve Endacott three months ago – insisted
there were no plans to shelve DanceXport but admitted investment had been
dropped.
He said: “We believe in it as a brand but it needs a
lot of marketing money to get it out to customers.
“We have invested in it for two years but, as Urbanweb,
we could spend this money better on other things. You would have to spend
£250,000 on marketing to get the right returns.”
Urbanweb is considering whether to sell off its majority
shareholding in DanceXport or scale it down to run it purely as ‘another brand’
in the peak clubbing summer season. Previously the company has promoted the
brand through third parties.
Oakes added: “We were always trying to promote it with
third parties and acquire marketing money to get DanceXport out there. There are
only so many times you
can do that.”
He said there was six months “breathing space” over
the winter, when DanceXport does not operate, to decide on its fate.
Meanwhile, Bayon, who has just set up a direct-sell
business for Seligo and Valley Vacations, admitted he was still interested in
DanceXport.
He said: “We are still open for discussions.
DanceXport is not dead and buried.
“I am still a shareholder in the business. It’s
something we might look to purchase in the future.”