EXPOTEL, which claims to be the UK's leading hotel booking agency, transacting more than one million hotel room nights a year for customers in both the corporate and public sectors, has successfully completed a management buyout.
At the same time, Phoenix Equity Partners, which is funding the MBO, has acquired the HBA NIS Europe. The combined businesses last year transacted £270 million-worth of accommodation and travel bookings.
Richard Lovell (top), who retired earlier this year as Carlson Wagonlit Travel's president EMEA and Latin America, has been recruited as chairman, while Ian Burnley, Expotel's CEO, heads the new organisation, and Andy Moss becomes finance director. Expotel directors Maurice Segal, Kirti Shah and Stephen Kaye are all retiring from the business.
"The combination of Expotel and NIS will create the clear market leader in the sector, as well as an exciting opportunity for growth, driven by new customer wins in both the public and private sectors, and by the provision of a broader range of travel management services," says Burnley.
Established over 30 years ago, Expotel, which also delivers conference and event management and travel booking services, has more than 400 employees operating from offices in Stanmore, Stockport, Leeds and Glasgow. NIS Europe, founded in 1989, employs 80-plus staff at its Manchester headquarters.