More than 1,300 UK jobs have been axed at foreign exchange group Travelex after it went into administration in the wake of the pandemic and a damaging cyberattack.
The jobs that have gone are in its UK retail arm which has largely ceased trading.
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A restructuring deal agreed yesterday designed to bring down the firm’s debt pile and inject new funds also saves 1,800 British jobs and twice as many globally.
Travelex Group trades in over 80 currencies and operates in more than 50 countries, both online and through a network of over 1,000 stores including major airports, with more than 1,000 ATMs around the world.
But the impact of a cyberattack in December 2019 and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic this year “has acutely impacted the business”.
Travelex was held to ransom by hackers in January after the cyber-attack forced it to turn off its systems.
As part of the restructuring process, Travelex appointed PwC as administrator to several of its subsidiaries that were then sold on to its bondholders.
Toby Banfield, joint administrator at PwC, said: “The completion of this transaction has safeguarded 1,802 jobs in the UK and a further 3,635 globally, and ensured the continuation of a globally recognised brand.
“Unfortunately, as the majority of the UK retail business is no longer able to continue trading, it has regrettably resulted in 1,309 UK employees being made redundant today.”
The businesses sold in the UK were the wholesale and outsourcing units that service major corporate and supermarket customers in addition to the UK ‘non airport’ ATM estate.
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