Travel trimmings firm Holiday Extras is to axe 250 jobs at its headquarters near Hythe.

The firm, which specialises in offering airport parking, hotels and travel insurance, says it will be losing an additional 80 people across the group's business after the "significant impact" of the pandemic.

Holiday Extras, which has its main office in Newingreen, near Hythe, and another in nearby Sellindge, is the market leader in providing travel services, but has been hit hard as flights were left grounded.

Running for 37 years, it says it is now "reassessing its operations" to ensure a "successful and exciting future".

It says as the "first stage of a two-year recovery plan" it has taken the "difficult decision" to cut staff numbers by around 330.

A spokesman said: "This is a significant step in planning to secure the business’s future and will be part of the package of measures Holiday Extras is implementing to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, including adoption of the government’s furlough scheme - which has allowed the company to save more roles than would otherwise have been the case.

"In addition, and as part of the plan, the organisation is also in the final stages of securing a government backed extension to its current debt facility."

Matthew Pack, group CEO, added: "Alongside my leadership team, we have worked continuously over the course of the pandemic to ensure that we will come through this downturn. Unfortunately, we’ve had to take this very difficult decision to safeguard the future of the business for our customers and remaining employees.

“Our teams and culture are so important to our success and we’re committed to keeping Holiday Extras a great place to work. We’ve left no stone unturned in making these extremely tough choices, but we believe we’ve remained true to our values which we will protect for the long-term for our remaining team members, customers and partners alike.”

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