Vertical ‘rescued’ Freedom PTAs Ian Taylor
Vertical Travel Group came to the rescue of many Freedom Personal Travel Advisors (PTAs) left high and dry by Thomas Cook’s failure last September. Almost 80 PTAs joined Vertical
Travel’s Your Holiday Booking and Holiday Elite businesses after the group offered instant commission to help them on their feet. The Freedom PTAs lost large
sums in commission – some more than £100,000 – and felt “forgotten” amid the turmoil following Cook’s collapse (Travel Weekly, January 30). Then Suzanne Brunt, sales
manager at Your Holiday Booking,
stepped in to help. Brunt was at Freedom for 20 years before joining Vertical in August. She said: “I knew a lot of these
agents personally. They couldn’t pay their bills. They were good sellers but were left at home isolated with no help. It was heartbreaking. I know how shocked and upset they were.” Knowing they also needed
money, Brunt said: “We introduced instant commission. We took nearly 80 homeworkers in that week and over the following three. We had some booking holidays within 24 hours. A few went to other groups. A handful decided to leave travel.” She noted: “I made the hard
decision to leave Freedom due to a management restructure. I left on
Suzanne and Peter
took us on board and should be really proud. Not many firms could have set us up like that
August 12 and started with Vertical on August 19.” The instant commission remains
in place for those who want it. Brunt said: “It helped them
through the first months. It was the least we could do, although many have now reverted back to the standard model [of commission paid eight weeks before departure].” One Freedom PTA said:
“Suzanne and Peter [Vertical Travel Group chief executive Peter Healey] took us on board. They should be really proud. Not many companies could have set us up like that.” Vertical Travel is a member of
Midcounties Co-operative, which Travel Weekly mistakenly identified last week as having taken on the PTAs. Midcounties chief retail officer for
specialist business Alistair Rowland said: “There was a lack of fairness. The PTAs were forgotten. Somebody needed to put them on instant commission – a regular model for consortia but not for homeworkers. It kept most of the PTAs solvent.” Some PTAs joined The Holiday
Village, which also offered instant commission.
‘No change’ yet for travellers as UK leaves EU
Ian Taylor
Abta updated its Brexit advice to consumers and members this week to confirm “everything remains the same” for 2020 after Britain departed the EU on January 31. The message was confirmed by a
series of government notices for UK travellers which boiled down to “no change” for now, and that message holds until December 31 amid signs consumers have shed the caution that hindered trading this time last year. A leading industry source said
4 6 FEBRUARY 2020
summer 2020 bookings to the end of January were up on a year ago despite Thomas Cook’s loss from the market, noting: “Brexit had a big impact on bookings this time last year.” Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the
Association of Atol Companies, agreed saying: “Last January was a nightmare with the concern over Brexit. People are very pleased with this January. Everybody reached the end of the month happy with how business has gone.” He suggested “some very good seat sales by airlines” had helped,
making “prices lower in some cases than a year ago”. But Bowen added: “It’s too early
to say whether there is a ‘transition’ effect. People are taking bookings now, but in seven months we might be back where we were.” He warned: “Boris Johnson keeps
giving assurances. [But] if we reach October and there is no sign of a deal [with the EU] we’ll see the value of the pound falling. That is a real concern.” Abta noted trade talks will start
com/Brexit. i Business News, page 88
travelweekly.co.uk
Brexit fans last Friday
shortly and said: “The priorities for the industry include a comprehensive air service agreement, replacing the benefits of the EU Posted Workers Directive, and retaining reciprocal healthcare.” Luke Petherbridge, Abta head of
public affairs, said: “The risk of no deal may have subsided for now, but there is much work to be done.” Abta’s advice can be found at abta.
PICTURE: Henry Nicholls
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