There was a last-ditch attempt to save Eastern Mediterannean specialist tour operator Allbury Travel Group on Friday that fell through.
Travel Weekly understands insolvency experts thought they had secured an injection of cash from credit card processing firm E-Clear, which had a controlling stake in Allbury through an offshore company.
This would have allowed it to pay for flying with Jet2 and Monarch and keep the tour operation going into next week, Travel Weekly understands. It had been thought Canadian operator Sunwing had been approached about taking a stake in Allbury. However E-Clear has denied this or that any other firms were spoken to about buying Allbury.
Sunwing is about to enter a strategic venture with TUI Travel and had worked with E-Clear in the past, it is understood.
Allbury was widely expected by sources to go out of business on Friday morning. Travel Weekly was told in the afternoon it had found the cash to keep operating but later that evening the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed its collapse on its website.
Sources close to the collapse said Allbury directors took the decision to cease trading after the eleventh hour attempts to save the company foundered.
The aftermath of the collapse will now be handled by Greek bank Laiki, with which Allbury had overdraft facilities, and the company is likely to be liquidated so it can recoup what it is owed.
Allbury was formed in March 2008 after the UK arm of Libra Holidays was split from its Cypriot parent in a restructure agreed with investors that “secured the future development of the tour operation,” according to the Libra website.
The new group included the Argo Holidays and Jetlife brands which were acquired in February 2008. Allbury also owned the disabled specialist Enable Holidays and brands Sky Holidays, Goldenjoy Holidays and Priceright Flights.
Earlier this year, it announced that the CAA had given its finances a clean bill of health when it dropped its requirement to bond as a company under four years old.
At the end of last month Allbury appointed Paul Cowley, former general manager of Midconsort Elite Travel and Resorthoppa sales and marketing director, as new sales and marketing director.
Industry heavyweights Eamonn Ferrin and Michael East, who had been brought in to complete the turn around of the firm, stood down in July claiming the company had been successfully recapitalised and returned to profit despite the difficult trading conditions.