Capita snaps up hotel booking agency Expotel for £16m

LISTED outsourcing giant Capita has bought Stockport-based hotel and corporate travel booking agency Expotel for £16m.

Expotel, which has offices in Leeds and Glasgow, made an operating profit of £3.2m on turnover of £16.3m in the year to October 31 2011.

In a statement Capita said the acquisition would add reach and scale to its existing operations in the business travel market and offer additional events and meetings management capabilities.

Led by chief executive Ian Sparks Expotel’s current clients include National Grid, Virgin Media, the Scottish government and BP. The company’s head office is on Wellington Road North.
 
Capita chief executive Paul Pindar, said: “The addition of Expotel will bring both significant additional expertise and greater scale to our UK focused corporate travel business. Expotel also brings considerable experience in venue and event management, which, alongside our existing business, creates a proposition of genuine scale and depth in this fast growing area of the market.

“The combined company will employ nearly 900 staff in 10 locations and will be able to offer both bespoke, niche solutions and a unique end-to-end travel proposition to its current and future clients.

“In particular, with the public sector needing to drive down travel and subsistence costs, it will be in a strong position to help local and central government achieve these aims.”

Expotel was backed by Phoenix Equity Partners, which invested in 2008 in a £38m deal which also saw it buy out Manchester-based NIS Europe.

Following the deal, Expotel moved its headquarters from Stanmore in North London to Northenden.