A new agency says homeworking advisors should have “the freedom to decide their own partners” after condemning “dreadful” contracts of certain providers.
Having launched in February, Independents – Powered by Azure is keen to highlight itself as an “ethical trading platform” which allows advisors to work with any supplier.
Its model is simple; advisors apply for membership and if accepted, they are given access to more than 180 suppliers, a suite of business development tools and marketing materials in the company’s SharePoint portal.
Perhaps most importantly, all members keep “100% commission” when selling an Azure holiday. If they wish to book a third party supplier, they pay an administrative fee of 0.5%.
Advisors also receive their commission as soon as the client pays their balance – distinguishing them from the many other UK agencies who pay their agents after the travel is completed.
Speaking to TTG Luxury, Azure chairman Edward Leigh said that the business currently has 12 advisors trading with a ‘pipeline of six to eight joining soon.’ He added that some interested advisors, however, have been restricted from making the move to Independents – Powered by Azure because of contractual obligations with their current provider.
“The contracts with some of these other providers are dreadful,” Leigh said. “In some cases, there’s provisions which say they’ll lose all future commissions or that they can’t contact their clients for a year after leaving the agency.
“What it means for independents who may desperately want to move, but it’s a slow burner. They are tied to their provider.”
He goes on to condemn these strict contracts, arguing that they result in independent contractors being “bullied and constricted.”
“Agents shouldn’t be controlled – it’s not the providers’ clients, it’s the independents,” Leigh added.
Agents who wish to join Azure must have at least two years’ experience in the industry, as well as a proven track record of selling luxury holidays. While they will receive support from the Azure team, it’s expected that they will already have their own client base and brand.
“An agent just starting out might lean more towards a larger company, whereas ours would be for more established advisors,” said Jayne O’Gorman, managing director at Azure. “We’re not taking people new to travel, but at the same time, they don’t have to have a huge client base to join.”
She added that many of Azure’s independent contractors have signed up because they wanted “to be part of something bigger”, after “working on their own for a long time.”
Azure has also benefited from this model, with between 10% and 35% of trade bookings going to its partners.
“We know our independents not going to give us all our luxury, but if they give us a small percentage it still makes a massive difference to our business,” O’Gorman said.
