Nova Tours of Chesterfield has ceased trading. It blamed the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic for the development, saying that many customers had cancelled holidays while at the same time no forward bookings were being received.
The operator has instructed Begbies Traynor “with a view to placing the company into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation.” Ashleigh Fletcher and Kris Wigfield are expected to be appointed as joint liquidators on 13 May.
In an earlier statement issued by Nova Tours, it says that around 40% of 2020’s bookings were cancelled within weeks of the pandemic’s arrival in the UK.
Subsequent movement restrictions have had “a catastrophic effect” on forward business, it adds. “The final nail was that we were 100% down on new bookings with no revenue coming in.”
Coupled with an “unprecedented number” of refunds to process, and not knowing how long the situation would last, that brought the operation to a close.
“The reality is that we are a small business. In the end, we could not survive coronavirus COVID-19.”
