THE boss of failed Creative Travel Group said he aims to
get business up and running again by Christmas under a new
refinancing package.
Former managing director Nigel Smith said the company, which ran
the Holidays in a Box concept, had been dogged by too wide a remit,
a lack of marketing clout and a poorly managed distribution
system.
Smith said he was devastated by the collapse of the business,
but is now in talks with both a liquidator and potential new
investors to “see what we can pull out of this”.
He said: “I’m not hiding from this. We want to work out a
solution that is in the best interests of everybody.”
The majority of its 26 members of staff had been paid until the
end of October – apart from senior managers who had waived
payments – and he hopes to re-employ them under a new company
by Christmas.
Creative Travel Group’s trading names include Holiday
Café and lastchancetravel.co.uk. Other ventures have included
dealing with Virgin Holidays’ outsourced calls, an affinity
business sold to Travelcare in May for a nominal fee, and flight
fulfillment on the Nectar reward scheme.
Smith said the Holidays in a Box concept did prove popular with
consumers, but was difficult to manage and distribute due to its
short and restrictive product life span. He estimated the company
had shifted a maximum of 500 boxes over the last year, only
converting one in 60 boxes which, at a cost of £15.80 each,
proved “horrendous”.
The product was distributed through First Choice until June and
through John Lewis in the pre-Christmas period last year.
It also signed a distribution deal with Argos in July. The
retailer purchased boxes in advance at a cost of £891,000, but
had sold only £25,000 worth. Smith said he was in talks with
Argos to minimise losses and said the retailer had been very
supportive.
He refused to divulge how much the company owed but said it had
two major creditors – Argos and an unnamed company –
and owed around £60,000 to minor creditors.