Holidays by National Express ‘on pause’

National Express’ hotel booking partnership has been put ‘on pause’ as its partner in the venture begins insolvency proceedings.

The hotel bookings company, Malvern Group, that was announced as partnering with the operator, has entered administration.

A statement from National Express said: “Holidays by National Express is on pause while we review our options. We have confidence in the concept and believe there is a future for the product. Only a small number of our customers were affected by this news and we are speaking with them to ensure that there is minimal disruption to their travel plans and they do not find themselves out of pocket. All bookings are protected via ABTA meaning customers can claim a full refund. However, we appreciate this process may take some time so are happy for customers to contact us direct and we will honour their claims with immediate effect.”

The partnership between National Express and Malvern Group was called Holidays by National Express. It gave customers a package through which they could book holidays, using the operator’s coach travel.

Tracey Pye and David Costley-Wood from KPMG Restructuring have been appointed joint administrators to Laterooms Ltd (t/a LateRooms.com), Superbreak Mini-Holidays Ltd (t/a Super Break) and Malvern Travel Technology Ltd. Owned by Malvern Group, the Manchester-based companies had recently come under significant cash flow pressure following news that one of the Group’s principal shareholders had defaulted on its debt repayments and would not be able to support the business in the short term.