However, Paul Waters has also revealed the “main reason” for pursuing the deal was to keep the Baldwins staff in the industry after the Kent-based miniple was wound up in July.
Just hours after the deal was announced on Tuesday (5 August), managing director Waters told TTG that Premier Travel had in fact been speaking to members of Baldwins staff for the past three months, updating them on how the deal was progressing, sharing redundancy advice and even making them some conditional job offers.
Waters confirmed each former member of Baldwins staff joining Premier would complete week-long training on how to use Premier Travel’s new booking system.
He also ruled out parachuting any existing Premier staff into the teams in its new Uckfield, Maidstone and Tonbridge shops. “This deal cements us a bit in this area,” said Waters. “We’re now able to add a bit more resource to Kent.
"One of the reasons we’ve done this is to have more Premier Travel branches, but the main reason is the people – we felt strongly that we should retain the staff. Having that lifeline has been a massive boost for the Baldwins staff.”
According to Waters, Baldwins staff approached various supplier partners to ask them about Premier Travel and what the now-31 branch agency stood for.
"Obviously, we did a bit of a selling job about what Premier Travel is all about so they understood our business,” he continued. “We initially offered staff jobs on the condition I managed to lease the properties they worked in. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had a shop to work in.
"They were aware of that from the start, but they didn’t want to jeopardise any redundancy payments they were entitled to.
"I know we’ve got quite a lot of supplier partners we need to thank for reassuring them that we’re a good company to work for. This deal is about the whole industry making sure we can keep this talent in travel.”
’They’re experienced travel people’
Waters confirmed the Baldwins teams will remain as they are. “We do not need to put experienced staff in the shops – the experience is already there.
"We will give them the autonomy to run themselves and they will put their own stamp on things. Remember, they’ve got the relationships with the local community – they know how to sell holidays and they know what they’re doing. They’re experienced travel people.”
On the week-long systems training, Waters said: “The main thing is going to be training them up on our new booking system but that is pretty user-friendly. I do not see them having many problems with that.”
Asked if the Baldwins teams had expressed their gratitude to Premier Travel in any way, Waters said: “The messages are starting to come through again now. They were appreciative from the get-go that we were engaging with them directly and giving them advice around redundancy.
"Baldwins was a very similar business to us – a long-haul, tailor-made specialist. We were a similar type of business. Baldwins was successful until Covid and since then it has gone in a different direction.”
Waters expects to get a quote for rebranding and furnishing each of the shops on Thursday (7 August). “Investing in the high street is what we’ve always done. It’s what we’re experienced in. We believe if we can get the right team in the right location it really can be successful,” he added.
However, Waters ruled out proactively chasing more shops to add to Premier Travel’s network. “To be honest, we were never on the acquisition trail," he said.
“I was literally reading the stories in TTG and I could see the parent company was in difficulty about three months ago so I spoke to the staff. Obviously, if opportunities come up, never say never.”
It comes as former Baldwins Travel marketing executive Amy Sharp joins Wendy Wu Tours as a sales support executive.
Like Waters, Wendy Wu’s head of trade sales Gary King said the operator was "proud" to be keeping talented professionals in the industry.
"Her experience with Baldwins Travel – one of the UK’s most respected agency groups, which sadly closed earlier this year – means she brings both exceptional skills and an insider’s understanding of the agent perspective," said King.
"We’re proud to be keeping such a talented professional in the trade, and I know our partners will value her insight and support."
