Transfer provider Resorthoppa (UK) had been loss-making for years and only emerged from a corporate voluntary arrangement (CVA) last November before going into administration this month.
However, the failure can be traced back to the collapse of Lowcost Travel Group in 2016 which left Resorthappa to write off a debt of £1.3 million.
Resorthoppa (UK) and parent Resorthoppa entered administration on March 4, with administrators acting for KR8 Advisory confirming the business and assets were sold to new company Hoppa Group, set up in February, with “equity investment from new investors”.
Staff were transferred to Hoppa Group, marketed as “the new face of Resorthoppa”, at the same time.
The failed transfer provider and its parent were owned by WWTE Ltd, the title standing for Worldwide Travel Extras, set up by Renaldo Scheepers.
WWTE Group acquired Resorthoppa (UK) in 2012 and established Resorthoppa as a holding company.
The transfers business had been set up in 2003 as The Super Shuttle Company and rebranded as Resorthoppa (UK) in 2006.
The company became part of the Lowcost Travel Group, previously trading as Lowcost Holidays, with Lowcost chief executive Paul Evans acting as a director of Resorthoppa (UK) from 2009 until its sale to WWTE in 2012.
Lowcost continued to book transfers through the Resorthoppa business. But when Lowcost Travel Group ceased trading in July 2016 it owed Resorthoppa £1.3 million. It appears the company never fully recovered.
Prior to failing, Lowcost Travel Group had relocated from the UK to Palma in 2013 to avoid the costs of compliance with the Atol regime and organised consumer financial protection through the scheme in the Balearics.
But when Lowcost failed it did so with considerable debts and with 27,000 holidaymakers abroad and 112,000 forward bookings on behalf of 270,000 customers. The financial guarantee the company had secured in the Balearics was worth just €1.2 million.
The group remains in liquidation, with the liquidators noting in their latest report last year that they have agreed claims valued at £62.7 million with Lowcost’s former credit card acquirer along with £96 million in intercompany claims. But they state “no further dividends” are expected.
Resorthoppa (UK) had barely reported a profit since 2016, recording losses annually from 2017 to 2022 – £444,000 in 2017, £1.9 million in 2018. £299,000 in 2019, £869,000 (2020), £437,000 (2021) and £1 million (2022)
The company entered a corporate voluntary arrangement (CVA), which allows a businesses to continue trading while administrators oversee debt repayments, in March 2021.
It made repayments totalling £3.5 million between then and November 2024, including £3.28 million to settle 298 creditors’ claims.
Resorthoppa (UK)’s most recently available accounts, for the year to December 2023, show an accumulated loss of almost £5.4 million, with the company making CVA payments since then of £155,877 and £1.15 million.
Parent Resorthoppa was listed as ‘a dormant company’ with nominal income but investments in Resorthoppa (UK) valued at £2.1 million.
Creditors have been told they must file claims with the administrators, who confirmed the sale to Hoppa Group meant: “All staff, customers, brands and websites will continue, and services are continuing as normal.
“HoppaGo customers can book and all existing bookings have been protected.”
The investors in Hoppa Group have yet to be formally identified as part of the sale or administration process, but the company registration identifies US-based transport technology platform Elife Tech as the sole shareholder.
In a “message to travel agent partners”, Hoppa Group said: “We have restructured to form Hoppa Group, incorporating our trading brands hoppa (B2C) and hoppaGo (B2B).
