Von Essen in Administration
 

This has just come up on BBC News. Just of interest as in the same fold as Premiair and Battersea.

The holding company of the von Essen hotel chain has appointed accountants Ernst & Young (E&Y) as administrators
The firm owns 28 luxury hotels in the UK and France.
The hotels themselves are not in administration and are operating normally, E&Y said in a statement.

And from Caterersearch.com (don't ask!):

Von Essen Hotels has fallen into administration with debts of more than £250m.
Administrators Ernst & Young are reported to have been appointed by Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group after the five-star hotel group breached a covenant governing the minimum level of underlying earnings and failed to make an interest payment on its debt.
Only the Von Essen Hotels holding company is in administration.

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According to financiers in the City, Davis' outgoings via the VEG had been exceeding income for some time and, lacking an alternative capital base to support this, the outcome while sad, is hardly surprising.

They would have culled up to 50% of their assets about two years ago and avoided this but .. few entrepreneurs are willing to step back in this way.

As I often tell my clients, sometimes one has to step back in order to make effective the march forward!

Sav

Von Essen in Administration
 

Does this mean anything or nothing for Premiair and/or the London Heliport?
£250M of outstanding debt - not exactly loose change

Looks like the writings on the wall there too

Terrible shame, especially bearing in mind how well pilots are treated by the higher management at Battersea these days.

The article I saw mentioned that it was the Hotels part of Von Essen only and that other parts of the company were unaffected.

It's supposedly 'business as usual' at Premiair and they will be unaffected.

Although if I were a pilot there I would be brushing up my CV and casting an eye around in case the company gets sold off.

I think the question is - has Premiair been making money lately? (unlike all the other charter companies in the South East?) or has Von Essen been bank-rolling them. I hope it's the fomer.

So why do all their aircraft registrations start at G-VONA through to C-VONJ if they are not part of the Von Essen Group?

Andrew Davis owns Premier Aviation Group Ltd. He also owns Von Essen Aviation Ltd. They are companies under the same common ownership but from a company law point of view, they are not in the same group.

The aircraft are registered to Von Essen Aviation Ltd.

Cheers

Whirls

Whirls
You are normally so correct in these matters but surely he's a shareholder (maybe majority) not a owner

According to Companies House, Andrew Davis is the sole 100% shareholder (i.e. owner) of those companies I mentioned. Thankfully, my own conpany's subscription to this information costs me nowt. :ok:

Cheers

Whirls

Canny girl...........!!:ok:

That'll be alright then. Von Essen Aviation won't in any way miss the large amount of cashflow generated by Von Essen Hotels, such CF being used to pay debts for the whole group.

And as for the new Hotel Verta......presumably that building and its environs being in the hands of administrators won't at all affect it?

Banks may appear stupid - but they appoint administrators to get back loans made that weren't being covered. They will use all and every avenue to find the cash.

This may yet be another sad rotary industry story.

I dont know how the billing works, but if I were a customer I wouldnt want to pay anything up front now either to stay in one of the hotels, or for a helicopter charter. The damage to reputation must carry across to some degree.

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As mentioned on another thread where this was initially reported, the writing was on the wall for a number of City financiers familiar with Davies' operations.

By all counts PremiAir's operations are, on the whole, commendable - even admirable, and Heli01's 'face-saving' comments in their support (via the information of his 'contact') are therefore understandable.

To suggest however that the collapse of PremiAir's sister company will have zero impact on their operations either now or in the future is perhaps optimistic. My understanding was that Von Essen hotels part-funded the initial acquisition of PremiAir?

We shall see what transpires.

This would however be a good time for the boys at Sparspeed to focus their efforts in preparedness for 'catching' any business which might emerge from the current uncertainties - that's how the business world survives!

Sav

Battersea Heliport is owned by Von Essen Hotels (according to their website) so would likely be part of the administration process

However, administrators ain't stupid..... The Heliport generates good revenue, which is more than can be said, i expect, for the hotel. They'll want it to remain a going concern while they try to find a buyer (as will a significant number of wealthy users, as evidenced by the folks who were interested when Westlands put it up for sale).

I think that the Heliport's future is probably secure albeit that there will be some uncertainty and disruption for a while.

Best wishes to all the staff at the Heliport - more new uniforms eh?
OH

All the links from PremiAir's website to London heliport and the Verta aren't working.....something is going on.
London Heliport

They worked for me.

The links worked for me too.

Jim Ball, having read a lot of your previous posts, you obviously suffer from the "English Disease" because you appear to revel in other people's misfortunes. I think you might be wrong with this one - well at least I hope you are!

"Listening out"

Earpiece