The former boss of one of the county's major employers will invest £100 million in the company to give it a boost, according to national reports.

Saga, which has headquarters in Folkestone and has a call centre in Thanet , has been hit hard by the crisis which saw its cruise ship operations suspended in March .

Sir Roger De Haan sold his share in the travel and insurance business, which specialises in holidays and insurance to the over-50s, for £1.4 billion in 2004.

But he is now set to make a return and rejoin the board as a non-executive chairman, according to Sky News.

He would take over from Patrick O’Sullivan upon completion of the proposed equity raise and would serve for an expected term of three years, subject to annual re-election by shareholders.

It is said he will spend £60.6 million buying 20% of its shares and invest up to £39.4 million at a maximum price of 15p per share.

The company is seeking a further £50 million from existing investors.

Saga announced it would slash about 300 jobs as a result of the impact on its business of the Covid-19 pandemic last month.

In June, the company confirmed it had to refund £44million to customers after its cruise ship holidays had to be cancelled due to travel restrictions to help stop the spread of the virus.

It also confirmed it had undertaken "a review of costs within the travel business" in order to lessen the impact.

It said at the time that was "expected to lead to a £20m in-year cost reduction over and above other savings".

Saga have since confirmed the proposed equity raise, which would be subject to shareholder approval.

In a statement a spokesperson said: "The board unanimously considers that the proposed equity raise will support the execution of its reinvigorated strategy under its strengthened management team, which it believes will return Saga to sustainable growth and lead to the restoration of significant shareholder value.

"Saga has continued to make good progress against the plan launched last year and has taken a series of actions in the last six months to protect the business from the significant disruption that has resulted from Covid-19, especially in relation to the Group’s travel operations."

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