Hundreds helped to get back to their homes

THE boss of a travel business which specialises in emergency repatriation says it has helped hundreds of people get home during the global lockdown.

Meon Valley Travel Group has organised travel to the UK, Australia, United States, Germany, France and other countries.

The business, which also deals with business trips, holidays and emergency medical assistance, employs almost 100 people from its head office in Petersfield, Hampshire, and a business travel office in Thurmaston.

Managing director James Beagrie said business travel and overseas holidays disappeared overnight when the pandemic hit.

But working with NatWest the company has used the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to provide it with the working capital to maintain its operations helping repatriate people and support customers whose holidays have been cancelled.

Mr Beagrie said: “The pandemic has resulted in a significant number of people finding themselves in very difficult situations abroad.

“Many are professionals whose employers have sought to repatriate them for safety reasons during the pandemic, while others are sadly in hospital needing to come home.

“The specialist services we provide are vital to helping these people, which is why it was so important we maintained our core operations.

“It has been difficult, there is no denying that.

“The pandemic has resulted in a significant part of our business being temporarily impacted, but we’ve built a resilient product and team, and the support and speed in which NatWest has worked to help us has only gone to enhance our mindset giving us the confidence we need to move forward positively.”

Mikael Rosen, of NatWest, said: “Companies like Meon Valley Group play a pivotal role in our regional economies, providing employment, investment and important services.

“Our role was to provide the support and help they needed so they could continue doing what they do so well.

“That means more than just providing finance; it means doing everything you can to help businesses during this difficult time and that is what we strive to do every day.”