Ian Taylor


Resorthoppa had just £343k assets £8.2m


Airport transfer provider Resorthoppa failed in March with just £343,000 in assets and owing unsecured creditors £8.2 million, the statement of affairs filed by owner and director Renaldo Scheepers has confirmed. Resorthoppa (UK) and associated


companies went into administration following a ‘pre-packaged sale’ for £398,000 to the newly formed Hoppa Group, set up in February as a Special Purchase Vehicle (SPV) by California-registered transfer technology platform Elife Tech. Company directors Scheepers and


Matthew Hall transferred to the new group along with other employees. Resorthoppa had only emerged


from a corporate voluntary arrangement (CVA) administered by a court in November after repaying £3.28 million to creditors. The failed company’s debts


include six-figure sums owed to 18 destination transport providers among the 471 unsecured creditors, including £485,000 owed to a company in Majorca, £377,000 to a Costa Blanca firm and £304,000 to a Tenerife-based business. Administrators James Saunders


and Michael Lennon of KR8 Advisory previously warned there would be insufficient funds to pay preferential creditors or even the full costs of administration, let alone unsecured creditors. KR8 Advisory conducted the pre- pack sale, describing it as “the only


Audley invites 40 key agents to join new exclusive club


Juliet Dennis


Audley Travel has created an exclusive invitation-only members’ club for a small core of its most valued travel agents. The move came as the operator


unveiled plans to increase trade business from 5% to 10% of overall turnover in the “next few years” and announced it was recruiting for the new role of trade marketing executive to bolster its three-strong trade team. The VIP members’ club, Kindred,


was unveiled at a two-day event called Away, for agents chosen to be among the initial cohort of 40 members.


6 11 SEPTEMBER 2025 Head of trade sales Greg Thurston


said the tailor-made luxury operator had opted to rethink its approach in a bid to reward individual agents. It has previously run a sales-related loyalty club called A-List. He said: “A-List gave certain perks


to agencies, such as marketing funds, for hitting certain volumes of sales. We felt the individuals or homeworkers within a larger company were not really seeing the benefits. “We are defining Kindred as a


members’ club rather than a loyalty scheme. Sales do come into it but Kindred is not based on agent targets or incentives.”


However, the sale left creditors


Sum owed to unsecured creditors when transfer firm collapsed in March


option” and noting it allowed the transfer of employees and the lease on the premises; however, KR8 was not involved in the earlier CVA. Saunders, KR8 Advisory


managing director, explained: “It’s normal for an SPV to negotiate and acquire the business and assets of a company in administration. The process was in accordance with mandatory best practice guidelines and statute, and subject to external regulatory scrutiny.”


angry and a group considering legal action, arguing it “constitutes phoenix activity, given the brand, staff and platform continuity” (Travel Weekly, April 17). Hoppa Group confirmed in July


that it operates from Resorthoppa’s former premises in Woking. The administrators confirmed


the failure can be traced back to the collapse of Lowcostholidays in 2016. Resorthoppa had been acquired from Lowcostholidays in 2012 by A2B Transfers, which rebranded as Resorthoppa, but Lowcost continued to provide a significant proportion of its business and left the company with £4.9 million in bad debt when it collapsed. Hoppa parent Elife Tech did not respond to requests for comment.


Greg Thurston says Kindred is a ‘members’ club rather than a loyalty scheme’


Benefits of the club will fall


under three categories – connection, collaboration and celebration – and will include special events, personalised training and marketing, dedicated communications, exclusive content and experiences honouring agents’ sales successes. An agent advisory board will be


set up for members to help steer how the operator works with agents. Thurston did not rule out


increasing the size of the club in future but said: “We want agents to feel special. This is very focused on individuals and trying to make them feel valued and part of Audley, and


to feel the benefit of our growth. “This is for the agents who really


want to work with Audley and are passionate about our product. “We want to keep it quite small


to create a sense of community, so it feels like a club.” He stressed the club was part of


the operator’s broader strategy to work more closely with the trade, with more training events and fam trips planned for next year. “There are huge numbers of


agents who could do more with us or don’t sell Audley, so we are planning a lot of other activities over the next few months and next year,” he added.


travelweekly.co.uk


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