NEWS SPECIAL REPORT


Simon Rowland, Wildfoot Travel


Jill Waite, Pole Travel


Gary Lewis, The Travel


Network Group


Sue Welsh, Ace Travel 2


closures and restrictions dating back to October. “It was such a relief,” he said.


“Without Esther McVey’s help, I don’t think we’d have got it. It’s pathetic and sad that you have to work so hard to get it.” Rowland has been supported in


his battle by Richard Slater, owner of Henbury Travel and chairman of Abta’s northwest region. As a director, Rowland hasn’t


qualified for income support, other than a “tiny” amount of furlough money, and anticipates very little revenue in 2021 as most bookings are for departures in 2022 or 2023. “I am basically living on savings,”


he said. Despite this, he is optimistic business will return, and says the struggle has made his company “more resilient, creative and tenacious”.


...in Greater Manchester The plight of agents in Greater Manchester has been in the spotlight thanks to Stretford and Urmston MP Kate Green, who is lobbying ministers after a Zoom surgery with about 20 travel professionals last month. She heard from homeworkers as


well as high street agents such as Jill Waite of Pole Travel. As a limited


travelweekly.co.uk


We urge the


government to deliver a roadmap to restart travel and review sector-specific support


company director with only a low level of income through PAYE, Waite has been unable to qualify for full furlough payments, apart from £144 a week in November. She now supplements her 10am-4pm hours in the shop by working 5pm-9pm for a market research company. Having never been in debt before,


Waite has a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan, which will need to be repaid in June. Annual turnover is usually about £2 million but now is less than £40,000. “The government has been


clueless,” she said. “Where is that Global Travel Taskforce? They should be speaking to influential trade people.” She said politicians’


pronouncements meant summer bookings dried up, so her only business is for November onwards. “We need a clear path out of this – and targeted support,” she


added, highlighting how the Scottish government has agreed a £5 million package of sector-specific support for agents north of the border.


Roadmap to restart travel Also joining the Zoom surgery was Gary Lewis, chief executive of The Travel Network Group. He told Travel Weekly that several


of the consortium’s homeworkers – Independent Travel Experts – are ineligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme as they hadn’t been trading long enough. Meanwhile, many established


homeworkers who had grown their businesses received low grants because their average monthly trading profits were based on the previous year. Lewis said: “We urge the


government to deliver a roadmap to restart travel, to review sector-specific support and deliver a test-and- release regime that is cost-effective and could reduce and/or remove quarantine.” It was lobbying by one of


The Travel Network Group’s homeworkers, Sue Welsh, of Ace Travel 2, that resulted in the surgery. “I’m getting really frustrated,” she


said. “I get quite emotional; it is like having your business taken away from you. I’m surviving on savings and cutting my cloth, but I still have bills and overheads for the business.” Welsh said she is “staying positive”


and praised the support of fellow members of the group. Another homeworker who found


it difficult to secure financial support is Jack Kay of Jack’s Cruise Club, a limited company director based in Walsall. His revenue was £102,000 for the


year to February 2020 but £18,000 since then. He got a £16,000 Bounce Back Loan in May that needs to be repaid. Kay and his partner, a self-employed hairdresser, receive Universal Credit of £902 per month, leaving them £152 after bills. He has not been eligible for many


business support grants but finally heard on Tuesday that his application to Walsall council for a discretionary grant of £2,150 had been approved. “I worked out my hourly rate was


56p from April to June,” he said. “It has been really tough.” An upturn in bookings last


summer generated £120,000 worth of sales but there has been little since due to low confidence in cruising.


4 FEBRUARY 2021 11


PICTURES: Shutterstock; Steve Dunlop


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