The Kinlay Group was a travel, tourism, and hospitality company. It operated in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The company went out of business in 2020 and a petition for
liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
was made on 27 March 2020.
History
The Kinlay Group was founded on 30 October 1972 as ''Usit Limited''. From 13 October 1972 to 17 November 1989 the company was renamed ''Usit Ireland Limited''. Since 17 November 1989 it has been registered as ''Kinlay Group Limited''. The company is headquartered at 19-21 Aston Quay in Dublin. The company was bought out of examinership in 2002 by Neil O’Leary, Michael Tunney, and David Andrews. O'Leary sold his part of the company to Tunney and Andrews in 2019.
The group operated the following brands: including:
*
Darkey Kelly
Dorcas "Darkey" Kelly (died 7 January 1761) was an Irish brothel-keeper and alleged serial killer who was burned at the stake in Dublin in 1761.
Biography
Dorcas Kelly was a madam who operated the Maiden Tower brothel on Copper Alley, off Fisham ...
* Eurotrain
* Harding Hotel
* Irish Studies Summer School
* Kinlay House
* Kinlay House - the Five Star Hostel
* Maynooth Travel
* The Real Experience Group
* The Travel Company
* Travel Options
* Trinity College Summer School
* Trinity Summer School
* Usit
* Usit Accommodation Centres
* Usit Now
* Usit Student Travel
* Utravel
* Waterford Travel
The Usit group was composed of: Dublin Usit Ireland Limited, the principal trading company; School and Group Tours Limited; and Dublin College of Business Studies Limited.
In March 2020 provisional liquidators were appointed to four companies in the USIT travel group after the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
crisis caused their collapse.
In April 2020 the
High Court confirmed the appointment of liquidators to companies in the USIT travel group.
References
{{reflist
Travel agencies
Transport companies established in 1972
Irish companies established in 1972
Travel and holiday companies of Ireland