Interest in collapsed West Midlands travel firm
Administrators appointed to oversee the collapse of a West Midlands travel firm which had branches across the Black Country and Staffordshire says it has had interest from companies wanting to buy parts of the business.
Branches of Bowen Travel Group in Bilston, Aldridge, Walsall, Great Barr, Penn and Sedgley closed last week with the loss of dozens of jobs after the company experienced a "severe cash flow crisis" and could not meet its payroll commitments after over eighty years in operation.
The company was part of independent travel agents group Hays, and was made up of six firms which included 38 stores across the region as well as three divisions of coach tour operators. Some 393 of the 448 staff have been made redundant.
Deloitte was appointed administrator oafter a bid to sell the company could not be completed in time. Officials are now implementing its "orderly closure".
Today Sheeba Ali from Deloitte said: "With regards to the sale of assets, Deloitte has had interest in various assets across the group, including the tours business and the coach fleet."
She also said a finishing date for the 55 staff still employed to help with the closure of the firm had not yet been decided.
Following the closure of Bowen, the Association of British Travel Agents said if customers have booked a Bowen's coach holiday, their money was fully protected under the Confederation of Passenger Transport bonding scheme.
If holidays have been booked on behalf of another operator, Hays Travel will honour the trips has been contacting customers to notify them. Hays has also offered to take on staff from Bowens to work at home with the same client list.
The firm was established in 1928 and by 1976 it was the largest independent coach operator in the Birmingham area.
