Luxury online operator Luxtripper has suspended operations due to a “financial restructuring”.
The company confirmed the move after messages sent to customers and seen by Travel Weekly said it was unable to continue operating due to “severe financial difficulties”.
In a statement released on Thursday, it said the announcement followed “months of active fundraising attempts to assist the company during this challenging business period”, adding: “Unfortunately, the capital required to take the business forward has not materialised due to the current, exceptionally challenging economic environment”.
The company said it had engaged restructuring specialist ReSolve Advisory to explore emergency rescue capital or a sale through an accelerated merger and acquisition (AMA).
The statement said: “Over the past 24 hours, alongside our efforts to assist ReSolve with a rescue solution, our primary concern has always been our employees and our customers.
“Currently, all employee contracts remain in place throughout this rescue process and we have issued detailed communications to employees outlining the current situation.
“The company is also separately issuing communications to suppliers and customers enquiring about the status of orders and bookings.”
In a statement sent to customers and seen by Travel Weekly on Wednesday evening, Luxtripper said: “We regret to inform you that Luxtripper has encountered severe financial difficulties and, despite our best efforts, we are unable to continue operations.
“We have engaged Resolve Advisory, a firm of restructuring specialists, to try to find an urgent solution.
“This process will unfortunately mean that the holiday you have booked with us will not be able to go ahead.”
The message goes on to say the firm will be in touch to advise on the process of refunds but that “phone lines will not be open at this time”.
The company added: “We deeply regret this disappointing news and the disruption and inconvenience that it will inevitably cause.
“We will, of course, be doing all/ we can to support you through the refund process.”
Nena Chaletzos, the company’s founder and chief executive, said on Thursday: “We are hugely saddened that despite our best efforts, to date, we were unable to secure adequate funding to help the business during this challenging time.
“However, we remain confident that with the help of ReSolve, we can achieve a positive solution. We hope to update the market in the coming weeks so I would ask all staff, customers and suppliers to remain patient while this accelerated M&A process is underway.”
Luxtripper holds an Atol with the Civil Aviation Authority with an authorisation for 4,437 passengers.
The London-based company was ranked 19th in The Sunday Times annual ranking of the UK’s fastest-growing private companies in July with reported sales of almost £28 million in the year to March 2023.
Marking its entry on the list, the newspaper said: “Started in 2013 by the chief executive Nena Chaletzos, 48, the specialist firm has a little black book of 5,000 experiences across all continents.
“It grew sales to £27.9 million in the year to March, helped by its strong social media following of more than 130,000 people.”
Some customers due to travel with the tailor-made specialist have taken to reviews site Trustpilot to raise concerns that they have not received flight tickets and Luxtripper failed to respond to phone calls or emails.
One said in a posting on Monday: “I travel in 8 days on a £35k holiday to the Maldives but Luxtripper won’t issue flight tickets so unable to book seats and family is now split up. The inventory doesn’t have any detail so no clue what’s going on. I’m not even sure it’s going to happen now. Beyond gutted.”
Prospective rescue investors or buyers are asked to contact ReSolve immediately with offers submitted by Monday, October 23 at the latest, with the aim of completing a transaction by Friday October 27.