The revelation comes as uncertainty hangs over the fate of the pension scheme for some of All Leisure Holidays Group’s 200 former tour operator brand employees, who were taken on by G Adventures when it bought Travelsphere and Just You on December 30.
G Adventures announced last week that it had also purchased Swan Hellenic’s brand from ALG’s administrators and planned to relaunch it in 2018 with a new ship and itineraries.
A spokesperson for G Adventures confirmed to TTG: “We also purchased the brand and IP [intellectual property] for Voyages of Discovery but it’s not our intention to revive this brand at this time.”
Meanwhile, employees of the former All Leisure tour operator brands face an anxious wait to find out what will happen to their pensions following the company’s failure last month.
The Pensions Protection Fund (PPF) confirmed to TTG that it has placed the Page & Moy pension fund, which includes the staff working for Travelsphere and Just You, into an “assessment period”.
ALG’s administrators Grant Thornton, which sold the operators to G Adventures in a “pre-pack” deal on December 30, has confirmed in a letter to creditors that there was a £7.6 million deficit in the Page & Moy “defined benefit” pension fund.
A PPF spokesperson said: “The Page & Moy pension scheme has entered the PPF assessment period and members can be reassured that we are there to protect them.”
Grant Thornton’s Eddie Williams told TTG: “The trustees are still responsible for the day-to-day running of the pension scheme, but ultimately it will end up in the PPF.”
Under the PPF scheme, which looks after the pension funds of companies that have gone out of business, employees who have already retired normally keep all of their pension, but those who have yet to retire will only get 90% of what they were entitled to, and this is capped at £37,000 per year at the age of 65.
The picture is clearer for those who worked for All Leisure’s cruise brands, Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery, as their pension schemes were “defined contribution” funds, which are individual schemes that continue even after an employer has gone out of business.
