Groupia brands resume trading following Funktion Leisure acquisition

UK group travel brands owned by Groupia have resumed trading after being acquired by Cheshire-based Funktion Leisure following the tour operator’s collapse earlier this year.

Groupia entered administration on 16 June, with Nigel Fox and Christopher Marsden of S&W Partners appointed as joint administrators. The company, which operated brands including GoHen, StagWeb, Groupia Golf, Groupia School Trips, and Company Away Days, subsequently stopped accepting new bookings.

Funktion Leisure, the company behind ABTA-bonded events specialist Funktion Events, acquired the brands from administration in July. GoHen and StagWeb are now operating under the new ownership and accepting bookings, while several former Groupia employees have also been retained.

The acquisition does not, however, transfer responsibility for bookings made with Groupia Ltd before it entered administration to Funktion Leisure. Funktion Events said those bookings continued to be handled separately through financial protection arrangements involving the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust (ABTOT).

Under those arrangements, Groupia bookings departing on or before 31 August were expected to proceed, while bookings departing from 1 September were cancelled and became subject to refund claims.

Customers who paid by credit or debit card were directed to their card issuers, while eligible customers who paid through other methods could submit claims through Gallagher Bassett on behalf of ABTOT.

ITIJ previously reported on Groupia entering administration, when financial protection arrangements were activated for customers with existing bookings.