Sarah Newman, who made a fortune a decade ago from the sale of online travel company Travelport, has been declared bankrupt in the UK.

The High Court heard of the development today as Newman was due in court to give evidence is a case where AIB was seeking to execute a €9m judgment secured in 2011 against Newman (46) and her former partner, DJ Carey.

The bank claims it is owed €6.4m from an original €7.9m loan advanced in April 2007 to refinance Newman and Carey’s borrowings from Irish Nationwide Building Society.

Newman’s online hotel booking engine Needahotel.com was bought by Travelport, part of Cendant, in February 2006.

Newman reportedly owned 50% of the equity in Needahotel’s operating company. Travelport paid €30m cash and €30m on the earn-out for Needahotel, which employed 75 people in Glenageary, Co Dublin.

In Association with

Born in Britain, Newman left school at 16 with two O-Levels. She applied to be a stewardess at British Airways but failed the entrance exam. She went to work for GTA, a UK wholesaler of hotel rooms to travel agents, and when she started her own venture, GTA was the sole supplier of hotel room inventory for Needahotel to sell on.

Ryanair Partnership 

Her smartest move was persuading Ryanair to allow her to set up a desk in its call centre and take the business of any travellers looking for a hotel room. When Ryanair went online, Needahotel.com was in the right place at the right time.

Needahotel only launched its website in 2000. The Ryanair partnership gave the site volume from the off and subsequently Newman did a similar deal with Aer Lingus.

Through 2005, Needahotel sold over one million rooms through its three distribution channels - the airlines, travel agents and tour operators and direct to the public. The trade partnership approach meant that Needahotel never had to blow a fortune on advertising to consumers.

After the 2006 sale, Newman commented: "Both my parents managed their own businesses so I learnt from a very young age that this was the way to go. They taught me to trust my instinct all the way. I dreamt from the age of fifteen that I would work for myself.

“My only hobby was work until two years ago. Then I got an office at home so that I could mix the work with being with my two children."

Her fortunes came undone when she bought properties at the peak of the boom. Newman was also a panellist on RTE’s Dragons’ Den.