News that the parent of ticket specialist Keith Prowse is poised to appoint administrators has attracted at least one rival interested in buying the well-known brand.
As travelweekly.co.uk reported last night Seatem Attraction Tickets, which trades as Keith Prowse Tickets and Theme Park Tickets Direct, is set to call in administrators within days.
Theme Park Tickets direct has ceased taking any new bookings and is directing customers who have not yet received tickets to contact their credit card company for refunds.
The brand name Keith Prowse claims a heritage dating back to 1780 and is already attracting interest from potential bidders.
Olly Brendon, chief executive and founder of ATD Travel Services Group, parent company of Dosomethingdifferent.com said:
“We will be talking to the administrators once they are appointed. We think the Keith Prowse name has got real value, but more so with consumers direct.”
Seatem Attraction Tickets is understood to have been planning the administration for some time and worked to limit the number of customer left out of pocket by the administration.
Until administrators have been appointed it is not known what the outcome of a financial restructuring might be.
Retail consultants at Keith Prowse were last night telling customers they could not take bookings for theme park tickets and that they expected further information after management meetings today.
As of this morning no information had been posted on the Keith Prowse Tickets website about the situation involving Seatem Attraction Tickets and it appeared to be trading normally.
Trade partners were said to have been kept fully up to date with the situation and some had put Keith Prowse on stop sell yesterday afternoon.
The pending administration and financial restructuring of Seatem Attraction Tickets is totally unrelated to a winding up order filed in the High Court by Fulham Football Club against a different company in the Seatem Group, Seatem Ticketing Services. This case is due to be heard on August 25.
Keith Prowse Tickets is also not associated with Keith Prowse, a trading name of the Compass Group’s sports, leisure and hospitality division.