Baldwins ‘may have mirrored Cook’ Ian Taylor


Senior industry figures fear Baldwins Travel may have repeated the behaviour of Thomas Cook in the run-up to its failure in 2019 by offering discounts in return for early payment of full balances on bookings in its final months of trading. A senior source said: “It appears


Baldwins was doing a bit of a Thomas Cook and may have been collecting full balances earlier than it should. At least one large operator has lost a sum well into six figures.” However, Abta said it saw no


evidence of this in the member pipeline-money claims it is processing. Baldwins was wound up in July after a torrid 12 months. A


former director was sentenced to jail for contempt of court along with two associates in July 2024 for transferring assets including Baldwins abroad. The Abta members’ committee


terminated Baldwins Travel’s membership in November, although Baldwins appealed. The appeal board allowed this, reversing the termination subject to the company “giving certain undertakings”, according to Abta. Baldwins failed to comply


with the undertakings, leading the members’ committee to terminate its membership in February. When Baldwins requested a further appeal, Abta agreed, though its rules suggested it had no need. The appeal board upheld the


Seaside ‘inundated’ with enquiries about homeworking arm


Juliet Dennis


Seaside Travel’s new homeworking division received enquiries from more than 100 travel agents within two days and 12 were signed up in the first week of launch. Head of homeworking John


Milburn said interest in Seaside At Home had been “phenomenal”. He said: “We’ve been inundated.


We put together a form of interest, so that when I started last week we’d have some leads, and it just went mad. “We had more than 100 people


within 48 hours of it going on [our personal] Facebook pages. I’ve been


4 14 AUGUST 2025


on the phone for hours daily to get through the list and we’ve not scratched the surface yet.” He said there had been interest


from agents across agency consortia, but insisted: “We’re not looking to poach people.” The 13-branch agency had aimed


to recruit 10-20 self-employed homeworkers – able to generate their own sales leads – by the end of 2025, but Milburn said the number was now likely to be more than 20. “We’ve not done any marketing


yet so it’s exciting to get this many,” he said, but noted: “It’s not about the numbers, it’s


about creating a quality division of good people and supporting them to build their businesses.” The company has taken on two


BDMs to start in September to provide sales, marketing and training support, a move brought forward due to the high level of interest. Seaside is planning two training


programmes for agents. The first is running across three days this week for five experienced agents, while the second, for six new-to-travel or less-experienced agents, will take place in September. Further optional training – including on using Facebook to


At least one


large operator has lost a sum well into six figures


decision and Baldwins’ membership was terminated from April 1. The termination came seven


months after the High Court found Baldwins’ owners had broken court- ordered freezing orders on their assets by transferring its ownership abroad. They claimed the transfer was to a new owner, although the High Court judge rejected this, finding that they remained the ultimate owners and controllers of the company. Alan Bowen, legal advisor to


the Association of Atol Companies,


suggested: “There was no way Abta could check anything was accurate [once] the business [had] left the UK.” However, Abta said its “normal


processes were followed, including checks on the directors of Baldwins”. Former Baldwins director Nick


Marks, who wound up the company, was unavailable for comment. Last week, Premier Travel


took over three former Baldwins stores – in Maidstone, Uckfield and Tonbridge – prior to reopening them under its own name. As part of the move, it also took


on five ex-Baldwins staff in Tonbridge, three in Maidstone and a fourth from another location, plus former Baldwins staff in Uckfield, a staff member from Haywards Heath and a trainee from the former Lewes branch.


Aaron Petty; left, John Milburn and Seaside


Travel founder Nicola Park


its full potential and maximising revenue – is planned, while an after- sales service to relieve administrative pressure is also being considered. Homeworkers will be included


in events planned for branch staff to ensure they feel part of the team, such as meeting suppliers. They also have the option to hot-desk at any of Seaside’s 13 shops if they wish. Seaside At Home’s first


homeworker, Aaron Petty, formerly of Hays Travel’s Personal Travel Consultants, has had his induction and has already worked at one of the group’s shops. Milburn said he had got off to a “cracking start”.


travelweekly.co.uk


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