Malvern Group and its brands ceased operations yesterday (1 August) after the group was unable to find a buyer at short notice for the 49% of the business owned by Cox & Kings (India).

Pye and Costley-Wood said they would work closely with Abta and the CAA to minimise disruption from the failures of Super Break and LateRooms.com.

“The directors of Malvern Group embarked upon an accelerated sales process to bring further investment into the business,” said Pye.

“However, with the cash position of the company deteriorating rapidly, this process was unfortunately unsuccessful, prompting the directors to take the difficult decision to appoint the administrators.

“Coming in the midst of the summer holidays, we understand this news will be of grave concern to 23,000 LateRooms.com and 19,000 Super Break customers who have future bookings with the group.

“Detailed information regarding how bookings will be affected can be found on the LateRooms.com and Super Break websites.

“Unfortunately, the customer contact centre is no longer operational, so we kindly request passengers do refer to the information online in the first instance.

“We continue to invite offers for the business, and would urge any interested parties to make their interest known as soon as possible.”

Super Break and LateRooms employed 253 across its bases in Manchester and York. The majority of these employees have been “stood down” while KPMG assesses options for the business.

Some 43 employees have been retained while the administrators seek buyers from the business and its assets.