Member Article

West Yorkshire’s liquidated Villa Parade drops injunction against travel firm over customer warning

European holiday rentals agency, Travelopo, has announced an injunction against it has now been withdrawn by the liquidated villa rental business Villa Parade.

The injunction, which was sought by Villa Parade’s solicitors Virtuoso, was granted on 2 May.

Villa Parade was a subsidiary of Cleckheaton-based Air Parade, and had incurred debts of more than £6.5 million of which a reported £3.3 million was owed to holidaymakers.

The injunction was sought after Travelopo contacted Villa Parade customers to warn them that their holiday bookings may not go ahead.

Travelopo felt it had to act after it was alerted by villa owners that they had not been paid by Villa Parade for over a year and in some cases Villa Parade were triple booking villas for this summer.

The injunction required Travelopo to retract the statement it had sent to Villa Parade customers warning of the possibility that holiday booking were not valid.

After the injunction had been ordered by the High Court the managing director of Villa Parade Ian Sheekey said that just a small number of villas were affected and Villa Parade had “a strong financial base”.

Just four days after he made that statement, on 14 May, the company ceased trading with immediate effect.

Travelopo managing director, Roger Fenton, has always stood by the email that his company sent warning holiday makers that their holidays might be in jeopardy.

The withdrawal of the injunction and demise of Villa Parade has vindicated his company’s action. However, Travelopo has incurred significant costs in fighting the injunction which the company is still seeking to recover.

Commenting on the withdrawal of the injunction, Roger Fenton commented: “I am relieved that the injunction has been lifted and it is now clear to all that we were right to warn Villa Parade’s customers.

“However, this fiasco has had a terrible effect on all involved. My company has been left with significant legal costs incurred trying to defend ourselves when we were right to act as we did.

“And for the customers and villa owners who were previously dealing with Villa Parade – who have lost money and are missing out on holidays – the conduct of Villa Parade and its solicitors has made a stressful situation even worse.

“We are working with those customers and villa owners to try and salvage this summer’s holidays as much as we can and I am pleased that my company can now put the worry of this spurious injunction behind us.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .