Tour operator Pinnacle Travel, a specialist in tailor-made school trips, has gone into administration.
The tour operator, based in Haywards Heath near Gatwick, is understood to have no clients abroad but several hundred forward bookings.
Visions Holiday Group, an independent specialist tour operator, will acquire some of the assets and goodwill. Antony Batty and Stephen Evans of law firm Antony Batty & Co have been appointed joint administrators.
An Abta member, Pinnacle Travel was fully Atol licensed and all customers with forward bookings will be protected. School groups with trips booked will be offered a refund, paid on completion of a claims form or given the option to assign their bookings to Visions Holiday Group.
Pinnacle Travel was a direct-sell operator sending about 5,500 pupils a year to Europe, America, Africa and Asia on sports, ski, performing arts and science trips. The company also traded as 2001 – A Ski Odyssey. It was established in 1998, and has no connection to Northern Irish agency Pinnacle Worldwide.
Pinnacle Travel managing director Nigel Parker, one of three owners of the company, said: “We are devastated at the collapse of the company we built up over 13 years to be one of the leading brands in the quality school travel market. However, I’m relieved this happened so early in the school year, which means there are no trips overseas and no young people have been left distressed or stranded.”
Parker attributed the collapse to “exceptional circumstances”, including the disruption caused by volcanic ash last year. He also blamed consolidation in the airline industry which had resulted in rising air fares.
Visions Travel Group is an independent tour operator based in Bolney, West Sussex, which specialises in tailor-made holidays to Africa and Europe.
Robert Atkins of Visions Holiday Group said: “We see an opportunity to take this high-quality school group programme within our portfolio of travel products and look forward to working with schools around the country.”