Failed Resorthoppa owed £8.25m Ian Taylor


Airport transfer business Resorthoppa went into administration this month owing £8.25 million, according to administrators. A statement of proposals by joint


administrators James Saunders and Michael Lennon of KR8 Advisory confirmed the extent of the failure and warned funds are unlikely to be realised to pay preferential creditors or the full costs of administration, let alone unsecured creditors. Resorthoppa (UK), parent


company Resorthoppa and associated businesses WWTE and Move Technologies, were placed in administration on March 4 and the business and assets immediately sold in a pre-packaged administration to


the newly formed Hoppa Group for £398,000. US transfer technology platform Elife Tech is the sole shareholder in Hoppa Group. The administrators noted


a pre-packaged administration “was considered the only option available”, with the directors of the group, Renaldo Scheepers and Matthew Hall, “transferred as employees to the purchaser” along with “all 17 employees”. They added: “Aside from this,


there is no connection between the purchaser and the directors, shareholders or secured creditors of the insolvent company.” Resorthoppa (UK) emerged in


November from a corporate voluntary arrangement (CVA), which allows a company to trade while administrators oversee debt repayments. It repaid


Rising employers’ costs expected to slow recruitment


Ian Taylor


Industry finance specialists have forecast a slowdown in recruitment as employers’ costs rise next month, but suggested most businesses should weather the impact. Chancellor Rachel Reeves was


expected to deliver a gloomy spring financial statement on Wednesday, with cuts to civil service jobs, welfare benefits and departmental spending amid a deteriorating economic outlook, but with no further tax rises. However, a £25 billion increase in employers’ national insurance


4 27 MARCH 2025


contributions (NICs) allied to a lower pay threshold at which NICs must be paid, plus a rise in the National Living Wage and cut in business rates relief, kick in from early April. Industry accountant Chris Photi


of White Hart Associates said: “Businesses are prepared. Certainly, they consider it a challenge. The extra costs are significant, but businesses have had five months to work this out. The biggest impact is going to be on recruitment. People are not going to recruit.” Alan Bowen, advisor to the Association of Atol Companies,


By January 2025 it


had become clear the group would be unable to continue without a material cash injection


£3.28 million to creditors between March 2021 and November 2024 at a rate of 75p in the pound. However, it entered administration


owing a further £8.19 million to unsecured creditors, including six- figure sums to at least 18 businesses. KR8 Advisory was engaged on


February 3 and not involved in the CVA. The administrators confirmed the failure can be traced back to the collapse of Lowcost Holidays in 2016, as reported by Travel Weekly


Rachel Reeves


(March 20). This proved more costly than previously thought. Resorthoppa had been acquired


from Lowcost Holidays by rival company A2B Transfers for £4.5 million in 2012. But Lowcost continued to provide a large share of business – accounting for 25% of Resorthoppa’s revenue when Lowcost collapsed in 2016, leaving “a £4.9 million bad debt”. Resorthoppa was left with an


additional £1.27 million in debt when a provider of transfers in Majorca collapsed in 2017. The company borrowed,


restructured and entered the CVA in an effort to continue, but the administrators noted: “By January 2025 it had become clear the group would be unable to continue trading without a material cash injection.”


Chris Photi


agreed: “It’s going to be an issue for recruitment. People are concerned. I suspect if people leave, they won’t be replaced.” He noted “concern that costs are


kept under control” and said: “There is a general feeling the economy is not going well and that is delaying [customers’] booking decisions.” A senior industry source described


trading as “flat” and said: “It’s starting to hurt. People who have not prepared by cutting costs will be in real trouble.” Bowen described Tui’s decision


not to add capacity this summer as “reasonable”, suggesting current offers


of money-off bookings in the school holidays by Tui’s rivals indicate “they still have capacity to sell”. Tui UK & Ireland managing


director Neil Swanson confirmed “a lot of (unsold) capacity in the market” last week and said: “I’m pleased we didn’t increase [capacity]. Jet2 increased and easyJet increased massively. We stayed broadly flat; that feels like the right place to be.” He added: “I don’t want to get


stuck in a really lates market where everybody has a lot of capacity left. Some seat prices at Easter and into early summer are ridiculously low.”


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURE: Lauren Hurley/No 10 Downing Street


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