These are just some of the desperate claims from former staff of independent agency chain World Travel Lounge, after the business entered liquidation in February, owing employees £127,000.

Boss David McDonald, who previously advocated for industry mental health with TTG, is alleged to have left staff with unpaid wages and unpaid pension contributions, with former employees telling TTG the company had “let down its customers and its team”.

Their anger comes after WTL Travel Services, which was set up by McDonald last year and is understood by TTG to have acted as a channel through which staff wages were paid, went into liquidation on 1 February owing more than £277,000 to creditors.

According to a Statement of Affairs filed by liquidators Campbell, Crossley & Davis on 2 March, seen by TTG, some 22 employees are still owed more than £48,000 in wages and holiday pay, almost £79,000 in redundancy and notice pay, and £20,519 in pension contributions.

McDonald opened his first high street shop in Blackpool in 2015, before growing the agency chain across the North West. The shops were later transferred to WTL Travel Services.

Two shops in Preston and Blackpool were sold to Hays Travel North West in October 2022, while its Spalding branch was acquired by Holiday with Us. Three more shops in Cleveleys, Fleetwood and Leyland were picked up in January by Protected Travel Services.

Parent company Book in Style is still in operation, but emails to staff from another director, seen by TTG, claim the business has £1.2 million worth of debt and “will be liquidated further down the line”.

After the liquidator’s report emerged, former staff spoke to TTG claiming they regularly received wages late and were asked to delay being paid to help support the company.

The business, meanwhile, is alleged by staff to have had customers in resort whose holiday accommodation had not been paid, while others were left waiting more than 16 weeks for refunds.

One senior ex-staff member, who did not wish to be named, said he recalled colleagues “begging him for money” after their salaries were not paid on time. He also claimed some colleagues were forced to use food banks while McDonald went on a cruise.

The employee, who is currently seeking a new job, also claimed the agency had been placed on stop-sale “by pretty much every tour operator” due to the amount of debt it had accrued, and while searching for a new job, he said he had had applications withdrawn by several tour operators due to his “association with David [McDonald]”.

“It’s been absolutely consuming,” he said. “My doctor says I’ve had PTSD from all the stress it’s caused.”

Another former member of staff claimed she had not been paid on time by the company since summer 2020, and was still owed “more than £3,000 in pension contributions and almost £2,000 in commission”. She described “working late and extra unpaid hours” to support the company, “as we knew the business was struggling and we wanted to help”.

“It’s all a real kick in the teeth now,” she said. “He [McDonald] made us all believe we were part of this big family, but that just wasn’t true. We feel completely and utterly used. Customers are your friends, and I felt like we were letting them down. I once had a disabled customer being thrown out of their hotel while on the phone to me because we hadn’t paid their accommodation bill.

“Some people live month-to-month and not getting paid on time has such an impact on you and your family’s lives. We’ve been forgotten about and it really feels like David has let customers and the team down.”

A third ex-employee told TTG she had been paid late “eight times” and believed McDonald had been “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. She also claimed he had not been paying staff pension contributions.

“He was taking the pension contributions but not paying the company’s pension contributions. It just felt so wrong,” she said, while other ex-staff said there had been “a running joke around the business not to enrol in the pension scheme”.

“People deserve to be paid for the work they’ve done and they deserve their employer paying into their pension,” she added. “The amount of tour operators who were owed money was crazy. When it started to become clear what was happening, I thought I just can’t put my name to this and I needed to get out.” The employee subsequently left the business last year.

In response to the claims by his former staff, McDonald told TTG: "WTL Travel Services Limited started liquidation proceedings on 1 February 2023.

"Book in Style Limited is not in liquidation and there are no plans of placing this company into liquidation. We are working closely with Protected Trust Services of which Book in Style used to be a member."

"Our focus has and always will be our colleagues who we are doing everything we can to support during this time."