Major update as UK holiday firm crashes into liquidation – almost £1m of debt | UK | News
A UK holiday company offering domestic and international trips has gone into liquidation because it owes close to £1 million. Gold Crest Holidays offered coach holidays to destinations such as Disneyland Paris and the Cotswolds, as well as a range of European city breaks.
The company, which had operated for over 30 years, went into voluntary liquidation and ceased trading on 23 January 2026. A recent position statement filed with Companies House revealed that Cold Crest Holidays had assets worth approximately £156,000 available for distribution to creditors. The filings also revealed that these assets were not enough to pay off debts and the company still owed around £425,000.
In total, the firm has 63 creditors listed on the files, all of whom are collectively owed £927,000. However, this is an estimate and may not reflect the exact amount owed.
The files show, for example, that Barclays Security Trustee Limited is owed £309,000, Barclays Bank is owed £98,000 and Barclaycard is owed £33,000.
Meanwhile, ABTA, an association of travel agents and tour operators, is owed nearly £107,000. In addition, the ten employees collectively have royalties worth close to £10k.
“This difficult decision follows the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, strategic changes to key partner arrangements that have adversely affected our business and a challenging trading environment with significantly increased costs,” Gold Crest Holidays said in a statement earlier this year. he said.
“We are extremely grateful to our loyal customers, travel agents, suppliers and dedicated staff for your support over the years. We are truly sorry that we can no longer continue.
“We apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience caused. ABTA will provide clear support to affected customers.”
It was a popular option for tourists from the UK and received generally positive reviews online. One TripAdvisor user said of their experience: “A truly wonderful few days away. I was picked up in Loughborough and headed to Disneyland Paris for a few days, staying at Marvel. I’d like to say a big thank you and thank you to Matthew, Adrian and Laura on bus 60! They made the trip amazing with quizzes and music.”
The majority of reviews on Trustpilot give the company five stars.
