BUSINESS NEWS demographic in the workplace were among topics discussed at annual legal event. Juliet Dennis reports


Tax relief changes may cause decline in employee trusts


Employee trust ownership (EOT) is predicted to become a less popular succession strategy for travel businesses in 2026 but may still suit some firms, delegates at the event heard. Attraction Tickets, ROL


Cruise and McKinlay Kidd are among those to have switched to an employee ownership model in recent years, but a change in capital gains tax relief in last autumn’s budget reduced the incentive for transitioning to an EOT. Before the budget, owners could enjoy 100% capital gains


tax relief on the sale of their business to an employee trust. The relief was reduced to 50% on transactions on November 26. Zoe Powell, from accountancy


firm Xeinadin, said there would be far fewer travel firms choosing the EOT model. “They’re not going to be as popular as they were last year,” she said. But Simon Atkinson, Barclays


Corporate Banking, said some businesses were still showing interest in employee trusts.


Travel sector faring well despite slump in discretionary spending


Travel companies “standing still” in the current climate are enjoying better trading than sectors more affected by a downturn in consumer discretionary spend, attendees at the event heard. Simon Atkinson, of Barclays


Corporate Banking, said the travel sector “still did really well” in 2025 despite political and financial uncertainty, and the outlook remains “pretty rosy”. He noted: “[From] a lot


of conversations I’ve had [the message] is if you’re standing still, you’re doing better than some of those other discretionary spend sectors.”


He pointed to “continued


downward pressure” on personal finances in 2025, with consumers spending less than the year before by buying cheaper brands or visiting budget supermarkets as well as eating out less frequently. He added: “A lot of those


trends are not being seen in the travel industry.” Atkinson said consumer


sentiment towards the travel trade was also positive. “One trend is travel agent and


tour operator support. People want packages, financial protection and the efficiency of people organising itineraries for them,” he added.


Firms to face age gap challenge


The widening age demographic in the wor kplace could lead to a rise in staff tribunal claims and grievances unless employers adapt how they manage and support staff, a leading travel employment lawyer has warned. Travlaw partner Ami Naru said


an ageing workforce, with a growing gap between the oldest and youngest members of staff, was set to cause challenges for employers. Speaking at Travlaw’s Big Tent


event, she said: “It’s going to mean more claims.” Many company bosses were


still unaware that the statutory default retirement age of 65 no longer existed in the UK, meaning employers cannot compulsorily retire employees simply because they have reached a certain age, she said. She added: “A lot of employers


still don’t recognise that they can’t force someone to retire at


travelweekly.co.uk


their default retirement age. Age discrimination has been on the law books since 2010. What you have to do instead is have succession planning in your business, proper performance management discussions. “You’ve got to have those open


discussions. You can’t think, ‘Oh Tom’s nearly reached 65, he’ll be off soon.’ That might not happen.” She added that the workplace


had changed significantly as a result of technology and social media and was now more weighted in favour of employee demands, with remote working a specific challenge. She stressed: “The employee


and the employer need to be on the same page, and the way you do that is through your culture. “Businesses have to change the


way they manage people, because having someone sat next to you and them learning from you is much harder if people are sat at home.”


From left: Ami Naru, Krystene Bousfield, Travlaw, Zoe Powell and Simon Atkinson


Simon Atkinson, head of travel


at Barclays Corporate Banking, agreed that adaptability was “key” and urged businesses to make sure staff of all ages were on top of technology and training. But he conceded there were


challenges in a hybrid or remote working environment. “Team harmony can be really tricky to achieve,” he said.


Zoe Powell, director of travel,


hospitality and leisure at accountancy firm Xeinadin, noted anecdotally that some employees aged under 25 were reluctant to work in an office. She pointed to reports that


graduates were “18 months behind [in development]” compared with pre- Covid. “It just means we’ve got to be adaptive to help them and to give them the space to be individual,” she said.


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