EDITOR'S COMMENT
• In amongst the wave of investments in the short-term rental industry in 2022, including PriceLabs and TravelNet Solutions this week, it should be noted that companies have been left with significant liabilities accrued during the pandemic and the industry is still very much on the road to recovery.
One such company navigating the challenges of the pandemic is flexible lettings platform Houst, which has avoided administration after securing an agreement on a High Court-sanctioned Restructuring Plan. The Plan reduces Houst's liability to creditors and raises at least £500,000 from existing shareholders, while removing the threat of an insolvency event.
Houst claims to have become the first SME [small / medium-sized enterprise] to pursue such a Plan. The company will feel encouraged by the cash buffer it has for the months ahead after reporting its first profitable month in June, even though its creditors will feel less so after details of the Plan were laid out.
• Likewise, Airbnb is looking ahead to brighter times after a troubled period, and the raft of hires it is making at a senior level suggests that the company is going back to its roots to strengthen ties with its community.
The appointment of Jay Carney, the senior vice president of global corporate affairs at Amazon and former White House press secretary for President Barack Obama, is significant as Carney has experience investing in community projects, initiatives and educational programmes in his career. We can thus expect Airbnb to take a robust approach to lobbying policymakers, addressing regulatory concerns and enhancing communications under his leadership, at a time when the company's PR machine will be tested.
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