Former Tapestry Holidays managing director Nick Wrightman is preparing to sue his former employer claiming it has missed a deadline to pay damages following an industrial tribunal.
Wrightman and his wife Viv won the tribunal on December 15 last year. Both claimed unfair dismissal and Viv additionally claimed for breach of contract.
The court gave Travelzest 42 days to pay the £42,619 awarded to the couple but Wrightman claims he has heard nothing following the passing of the deadline on January 30.
He says he now intends to sue for around £120,000 which also includes £55,000 in unpaid pension contributions and a bonus payment he was unable to pursue through the tribunal.
“We have written to them but we have heard nothing from them or their solicitors. We are going to be sending letters to get a court date,” Wrightman said.
Travelzest bought eastern Mediterranean luxury specialist Tapestry in 2006 after it fell into administration, relaunching it as Tapestry Collection with Wrightman as general manager.
In 2009 Wrightman was named vice-president of product for UK operations after a management reshuffle that saw group distribution director Nishma Robb step down.
Travelzest has since struggled in the UK and recently announced plans to dispose of its UK brands after a proposed buyout by Canadian travel agency Red Label Vacations collapsed.
Although Wrightman won the tribunal against Tapestry Collection Ltd he said his legal advice is that he should pursue Travelzest, which is a publically listed company, for the money he says he is owed.
Asked to comment on the case and on the claims that the tribunal money has not been paid a Travelzest spokeswoman said it was company policy not to make any comment on litigation.
Relations between the Wrightmans and Travelzest fell apart after it sought to centralise its UK operations in Cheltenham towards the end of 2010.
This culminated in them being sacked in March last year after an internal disciplinary hearing, sparking the claim for unfair dismissal.
Wrightman went on to establish a new tour operator called Discerning Collection set up by Travel Counsellors.
The destination specialist to Greece, Turkey and Morocco sells direct and exclusively through Travel Counsellors, the travel agency with more than 700 home-based agents in the UK. It plans to soon launch Majorca and Sardinia.
Wrightman told Travel Weekly he had been in negotiations to buy the Tapestry brand, but the deal broke down after Travelzest refused to give warrantees.