Entrepreneur Luke Johnson had some relief on Wednesday as the luxury Caribbean hotels firm he backs posted first-half higher sales.
Elegant Hotels, which Johnson has a 12.5% stake in, saw a spike in UK customer numbers thanks to Brits heading to Barbados for England’s cricket tour of the West Indies.
It also benefited from more demand for all-inclusive holidays, with UK customers seeking ‘locked-in’ prices to avoid potential Brexit-induced currency headwinds.
Chief executive Sunil Chatrani said: “Elegant Hotels continues to perform well in the context of a competitive market and against a backdrop of ongoing uncertainty in its core visitor market of the UK.”
He added that forward bookings are looking strong.
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Elegant Hotels said sales in the six months to March rose 3% to $43.7 million (£33.4 million). Pretax profits increased 11% to $12 million.
Johnson has been grappling with the fallout from an accounting scandal at Patisserie Valerie, which he chaired.