Holiday Extras prepares for next stage of expansion

December 2024

Holiday Extras Investments Limited announced today that it has bought back the shareholding of its founders, Gerry and Carol Pack, who established Holiday Extras 42 years ago and have decided that now is the time to pass the business on to the next generation.

Holiday Extras has bought back, and then immediately cancelled, the founders' holding, or 12% of the six million shares in the business. Control of the business will continue to rest with its management team, led by Group CEO Matthew Pack, with an increased majority of the shares held in the Employee Benefit Trust established by the founders.

Holiday Extras' team at the Kent HQ

Holiday Extras employees' therefore now have an increased stake in the future of the travel technology market leader via the trust, helping HX continue to attract and retain the very best talent in the industry.

At the same time, Holiday Extras has agreed an extension of its borrowing facility with long-term banking partner NatWest, from £20mn to £30m, to support its ambitious strategy for further European expansion and investment in Artificial Intelligence. (Version nine of its app is due this December, loaded with new AI-powered features.) Earlier this year Holiday Extras announced the purchase of European airport parking business Quick Parking, the launch of a new multi-story airport car park under its Airparks brand in Munich and the acquisition of Future Generation Services. More acquisitions are expected to follow.

Group CEO Matthew Pack commented,

"All of this is possible because our customers and partners continue to choose Holiday Extras for its great service and our promise of 'less hassle, more holiday.' Thanks to their trust and loyalty, we've been able to achieve outstanding performance over the last three years, generating the resources to fund this buyback. We're going all in on AI and have exciting plans for European expansion.

I am grateful to our banking partners at NatWest for their continued support; to the incredible team at Holiday Extras for making this possible; and of course to my parents Gerry and Carol who set up this business in 1983 and are exiting after 42 years. I am proud to say that the business they started is now in better shape than ever to take advantage of a very exciting future."

Dave Harris from NatWest Commercial Mid-Market Team commented,

"We have worked with Holiday Extras for many years and we are delighted to continue to support the growth ambitions of Matthew and his team and play a small part here in the share transaction. Holiday Extras enjoys a strong position in the holiday market and we look forward to supporting them in further development."