:
UK: Villa and boutique hotel specialist, Simpson Travel, has received private equity backing as Risk Capital Partners announced that it had bought an undisclosed stake in the company.
Founded in 2002, the tour operator offers a portfolio of luxury villas, apartments and boutique hotels across the Mediterranean and Europe, notably France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey.
As a result of the transaction, former Hotelplan UK chief executive Paul Carter will join the Simpson Travel board as chairman, and current operations director Ed Pyke has been promoted to the role of managing director. Founder Graham Simpson will continue to serve as an adviser to the board.
Pyke told Travel Weekly UK: “I am thrilled to be stepping up to the role of managing director at this pivotal time in the company’s history. We have seen record years in 2023 and 2024 to date, as bookings exceed pre-pandemic levels.
“As one of the UK’s most respected specialist tour operators I recognise the firm foundations and reputation for excellence that Graham has established for Simpson Travel and look forward to building on his legacy to take the company forward.
“The investment and backing of RCP affords a wonderful opportunity to push on with our ambitious growth plans; I am enormously proud of all that we have achieved to date and hugely excited for the future,” he added.
Simpson said: “I am delighted that RCP are joining the team. There is no doubt their backing presents an exciting prospect. They are as passionate as I am about the future of Simpson Travel and I know that our founding principles will remain at the heart of the business.
“Our reputation is built upon exceptional service and the distinctive quality of our accommodation and I look forward to watching the business go from strength to strength under the leadership of an outstanding management team,” he added.
Risk Capital Partners is a private equity firm that has previously invested in travel companies such as Neilson Active Holidays and Cruise.co.uk. Its co-founder, Luke Johnson, is a former chairman of Channel 4, Pizza Express and Neilson Active Holidays [before it was sold in 2018], and he also served as a non-executive director at Elegant Hotels, which sold to Marriott for $200 million five years ago.
Johnson said: “We believe Simpson Travel is a terrific brand with a tremendously loyal customer base. We look forward to supporting Ed and the management team in their ambitious plans to develop the business.”
Incoming chairman Carter said on LinkedIn that he was “delighted” to be joining the board of Simpson Travel to drive its next phase of growth.
At the end of last year, Simpson Travel began trialling a new portal that would allow travel agents to reserve villas and hotels for their clients, and then hold them for 24 hours.
