Gill’s debts revealed in administrator’s report

By Lee Hayhurst | Sep 12, 2011 08:16AM GMT

Administrators for Gill’s Cruise Centre have revealed staff were owed £474,000 in wages when the firm went out of business.

The latest report on the collapse from Harrisons sets out the full list of creditors to the travel agency, including the largest, Complete Cruise Solution, which was owed £5.3 million.Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is listed as being owed £3.2 million and Fred OIsen Cruise Lines £689,000.

The report on the collapse of E & M Gill Ltd reveals some details about the latest accounts of the cruise specialist, which have not been made public in full to date. These show the firm recorded a gross profit loss of £311,710 in the year to September 2010, having recorded a profit of £349,468 in the previous year.

Directors’ remuneration and benefits was recorded as rising from £349,468 in 2009 to £771,378 in 2010 and turnover had risen from £8.92 million to £11.36 million.

The 2010 accounts, which were not filed at Companies House by the time the company failed in July, were said to have been included significant concerns raised by the firm’s auditor Elman Wall.

The report sets out the background to the failure stating “financial pressure” finally came to a head when Fred Olsen made a demand for unpaid balances.

The administrator states there are unsufficient funds to repay unsecured creditors and that, subject to any creditors pursuing a winding up order he intends to move to dissolve the company.

Cruise ships diverted as Irene hits hurricane status

Aug 22, 2011 13:33PM GMT

Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International have been forced to alter Caribbean itineraries in the face of a hurricane.

Irene is heading towards the cruise hub of Puerto Rico after hitting the island of St Criox with heavy winds and rain closing airports and flooding areas of the Leeward Islands.

The storm was upgraded to a hurriacane by the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami on Monday morning (August 22). Maximum sustained winds from the storm have reached 75 miles per hour.

The storm is due to reach the east coast of the Dominican Republic later today, prompting hurricane warnings on the Caribbean island popular with UK holidaymakers.

A state of emergency was imposed in the US Virgin Islands while other eastern Caribbean islands such as Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, Guadeloupe and St Maarten were also affected.

Ships with revised itineraries include Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and sister ship Allure of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas as well as Carnival Miracle.

Speaking before the storm was upgraded, The Puerto Rico Tourism Company said the island was under a Tropical Storm warning.

“All tourist information centres on the island will be available on a 24-hour-a-day basis to offer support to tourists,” it said. “All hotels are operating as normal but have activated their contingency plans to protect guests and employees.”

Although Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan is open, airlines have cancelled flights as a preventive measure. “We recommend that arriving and departing passengers call their airline regarding any changes, delays or cancellations,” the tourism body said.