Travel agent to gain £20k compensation after holiday firm’s shock closure

Wednesday 25 April 2018

A travel agent who gave more than a decade of service to a local firm will be handed nearly £20,000 in compensation after her firm abruptly closed last month.

CI Travel Solutions unexpectedly shut its doors in Jersey and Guernsey after its UK owners suddenly stopped paying the rent.

The closure happened just weeks after it emerged that the holiday booking firm’s parent company, CI Executive Travel Group, had gone into liquidation. It had accrued around £800,000 of debt dubbed “unlikely” to be repaid by creditors.

Holiday deal advertisements were removed from the windows of the Jersey branch’s Peter Street premises, while staff were dismissed with little warning.

Pictured: A notice put up in the window following the premises' shock closure.

Amongst them was Christine Smale, a travel agent who had worked for the company since 2007. She brought an unfair dismissal claim to the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal, seeking damages for the breach of her contract over notice pay.

Having 11 years’ continuity of service, she argued that she would be entitled to 26 weeks’ pay for unfair dismissal.

The claim was not contended by CI Executive Travel – in fact, the Tribunal noted that the company failed to present any response at all.

Deputy Chairman Michael Salter therefore found in her favour.

The Tribunal subsequently ordered that Ms Smale be awarded £19,933.45 – more than a quarter of which (£5,537.07) was damages for the contractual breach.