Van Kerkhof, a veteran of 20 years in the sector, acquired the agency late last year after major debts threatened LCA (actual company name) and called into question financial arrangements that it had with its language school partners in terms of payment protocol.

Van Kerkhof told The PIE News that he had noticed higher expectations from schools in general regarding payment procedures since the predicament – major debts engulfing the former owner – became known in late 2012.

A new company, Apple Language Courses (ALC) was set up this year by Van Kerkhof, which alongside the old company that he acquired, LCA, is working with web domains that include www.applelanguages.com and also www.languagesabroad.co.uk.

“We pay all schools in advance,” underlined Van Kerkhof, who runs another successful study abroad operator StudyTravel, noting that the priority since the takeover had been to run “business as usual” with all the same partner schools.

He aims to repay some of the sizable debts owed from future profits once the administrator completes its oversight of LCA. His company also ensured all LCA’s clients studying at the time of the crisis were bailed out and able to complete their courses.

“We pay all schools in advance”

“The company is definitely benefiting from improvements to efficiency that we are able to make given our strong 20-year track record of running an outbound study travel agency,” van Kerkhof said, noting that a centralised web-based booking system has been ushered in, for example.

“I’m grateful for the support of the sector and in particular, [membership organisation] IALC for backing this resolution,” he added. ALC is UK-based but clients from the rest of Europe and North America represent 60% of its client base.