It is with great sadness that we announce that our affiliated member schools in Barcelona, Mataro, Sabadell, Terrassa, Tarragona, Palma and Zaragoza (the IH Eastern Spain Group) are closing and initiating liquidation proceedings. The IH ES Group had experienced considerable financial challenges in recent years but, thanks to the hard work and commitment of the dedicated teams, they had been starting to recover. Sadly, the devastating impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the business has been too much and, after many months of trying to save the schools, the shareholders have taken the very difficult decision to close.
It is devastating for all concerned that a group of schools with such a long and positive history in language teaching and training has had to close in these circumstances. The Group was founded nearly 50 years ago by Ben Warren and the directors and staff that have worked at the schools over the years were highly valued and active members of the IH community. They have taught and trained hundreds of thousands of students and teachers over the years and their legacy will live on through those who worked and studied with them.
Covid-19 has had a decimating impact on so many livelihoods and businesses in our industry in the past 6 months. Our thoughts are with all of the staff who have lost their jobs as a result of the closure and those students who will not be able to complete their studies at the schools. The initiation of the insolvency process by IH ES Group means that a legal administrator will be appointed by the Spanish courts and they will communicate with the staff, clients, suppliers and other creditors. IHWO Ltd has no legal, financial or operational involvement with the IH ES Group or the liquidation process but we will do all we can to facilitate communication between all those involved.
International House is not a franchise. All IH schools are independently owned and managed companies, so no other IH affiliated schools are directly affected by this closure. However, as a network of colleagues, friends and partners, we are all united in our great sorrow and our thoughts are with those affected.