TravelSolutions, the trading name of Channel Island Executive Travel, had branches in Guernsey and Jersey, which will shortly be rebranded as Pettitts Travel, the leisure trading division of CT Travel Group.
Negotiations over the future of a further branch, in Bromley, are ongoing.
A spokesperson for CT Travel Group confirmed that the staff at the Channel Islands branches would be kept on, and that it would largely be “business as usual”.
Former TravelSolutions director, Amanda Eulenkamp, will stay on with the business in the role of head of Channel Islands.
Meanwhile, TravelSolutions’ corporate department has been taken over by Uniglobe Gemini Travel in Ashford, Middlesex, with TravelSolutions’ operations director and manager kept on as part of the deal.
Eulenkamp told TTG that TravelSolutions’ corporate department lost the States of Guernsey as a large client at the end of November 2017, which had “an obvious impact on our corporate business”.
She added: “I broke my leg last July, and have had four months out of the business; Fred Eulenkamp, the managing director, is going to be 60 in October.
“It [the States of Guernsey] was a big piece of business to replace, so the decision was made to wind down.”
Pettitts was founded in 1988 by Steven Pettitt, and offers tailor-made travel and private tours. It was acquired by CT Travel Group in 2015. The head office will remain in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Mark Kempster, founder and chief executive of CT Travel Group, which turns over more than £30 million, said: “We were presented with the opportunity to take over the ongoing leisure business of TravelSolutions and felt it was a good fit for our existing portfolio.
“We are currently administering all existing leisure bookings of TravelSolutions and are pleased to confirm that all clients’ holidays are safe.
“We look forward to building on Pettitts Travel’s programme over the coming months with a new website and refreshed look.”
An Abta spokesperson added: “We can confirm that Channel Island Executive Travel trading as Travel Solutions ceased trading on January 10 and are proposing to appoint Grant Thornton (Guernsey) as insolvency practitioner.”
The agencies in Guernsey and Jersey have been allocated new Abta numbers.
