Jobs saved at Yorkshire travel company

ONE of Yorkshire’s oldest travel companies has secured substantial investment in a deal that has saved more than 60 jobs.

KPMG’s Restructuring Services team in Leeds has secured a substantial investment in Eddie Brown Tours. The firm was established in 1949 and provides coach hire, school and college bus services, excursions and holidays. The second-generation family business is led by directors Deirdre Brown and employs over 60 staff and houses a fleet of 50 vehicles at its base in Wetherby, North Yorkshire.

KPMG’s Restructuring team were instructed on Friday February 14 to assist Ms Brown in assessing the options for the business. After rapidly marketing the company, Eddie Brown has secured substantial investment from an un-named investor.

The deal, which was led by KPMG director Gareth Harris and supported by Glyn Baddeley and Richard Starkey, has safeguarded over 1,500 booked excursions and travel partnerships for a number of the region’s leading schools, including Leeds Grammar School.

Gareth Harris, director at KPMG Restructuring Services team in Leeds, said: “Eddie Brown coaches have been an instantly recognisable element of the Yorkshire travel industry for over half a century.  I’m sure that many Yorkshire folk from the 50s and 60s will have taken their first holidays in one of Eddie Brown’s iconic vehicles.

“After experiencing some financial and operational challenges over the difficult winter period, we are very pleased to have identified a suitable investor to provide significant funds for investment and help move the business forward.”

Deirdre Brown, director of Eddie Brown Tours, said: “KPMG played an integral role in identifying an investor which has helped secure the future of our family business. We look forward now to further developing the business and to continue providing top-quality travel services to our thousands of customers from across the North.”