Surrey's Ashdown Travel has taken on two former Baldwins teams, as well as marketing and commercial manager Tricia Lester. The agency, which is based in Oxted, is expanding into nearby Tunbridge Wells and also Sevenoaks, both in Kent, to fill the gaps left on the high street by Baldwins' demise in July.

Ashdown's Tunbridge Wells shop opened its doors last Tuesday (2 September) and will officially open on Wednesday 17 September. Work to fit out the Sevenoaks shop, meanwhile, is under way with a view to opening the shop on Monday 15 September ahead of an official opening on Thursday 18 September.

Lester, who has become Ashdown’s head of retail, told TTG the two new shops would have a more upmarket feel and luxury focus, with the new look set to be rolled out at the Oxted branch in October. "We are aiming to pitch for that luxury market," she said.

"In Oxted, they're certainly drawing those bookings. I just think it's a case of not having got round to refurbishing the brand to match the pitch. Of course, will still book everything clients ask for. It's just we're pitching it a bit more higher end.

(Credit: Ashdown Travel)

The new stores will each have four staff, a mixture of full-time and part-time. Asked if Ashdown would look to expand further, Lester said: "We're always looking. But at the moment, our focus is getting these three branches up and running, looking the same and ready for peaks. But if the right opportunity comes up in the right town, we'll certainly look at it."

The Tunbridge Wells team also won their first award at the weekend – best dressed at the annual dragon boat race in nearby Tonbridge. It was the first outing for Ashdown's new branding, with support from a number of operator partners – Travelsphere, Gold Medal, Scenic, If Only, Audley Travel, Premier Holidays, Africa Collection, Exsus Travel, Cyplon and CV Villas.

Lester, who spent "a couple of months" in talks with Ashdown to find jobs for her former Baldwins colleagues, said she believes nearly every former member of Baldwins staff is now in a new role. She said ex-Baldwins staff could now be found at Welwyn’s Off Broadway Travel, Sussex Travel Lounge, Travelology, DialAFlight and Travel Village Group. She said she knew of only one who had left the industry.

“I would say all the team, bar one or two, have got jobs, it’s amazing," she added. There was so much experience at Baldwins, and the agencies picking them up realise that – they have the client lists and bring ready-made business.”

'Now it's time to make some noise!'

Premier Travel was next to swoop, taking on Baldwins branches and teams in Uckfield, Maidstone and Tonbridge, retaining 14 jobs. Managing director Paul Waters, who signed the deal in early August, revealed he had been in talks with staff since May.

The Uckfield store opened on 28 August and Maidstone on 30 August, with official openings to be held over the weekend of 3-4 October. The Tonbridge store will open soon, Waters confirmed. Together, they grow Premier's network to 31 branches in total.

(Credit: Premier Travel)

Waters said the impetus for the deal was “the people”. “I could see the parent company was in difficulty so I spoke to the staff. This deal is about making sure we can keep this talent in travel. Uckfield and Maidstone are up and running and have been since the end of August. They've been refitted which is good. We're now just trying to make some noise with the local press about the fact they've reopened.

"We're now trying to get the customers back in. We're getting bookings coming in, which is good, but there's more business out there so our main focus over the next couple of weeks is to get customers coming back in."

Elsewhere, Nicki Bryan and Hemali Iverson, who worked together at Baldwins’ shop in Lewes, Sussex, for four years have found a new home with The Holiday Village. They contacted director Paula Nuttall just a few weeks before Baldwins, which had seven branches in Kent, three in Sussex and one in Lincolnshire, was wound.

Nuttall said the new recruits had hit the ground running and were already promoting themselves locally. “We’re seeing a lot of big luxury bookings from these two,” she said. “£30,000, £40,000, £50,000 tailor-made cruise bookings, not the kind you see from someone with just a couple of years’ experience.”

(Credit: The Holiday Village)

Bryan and Iverson, Holiday Village’s 80th and 81st business owners, told TTG they had explored other homeworking companies, but were swayed by the level of support the business offers.

Meanwhile, former Baldwins Travel employee Amy Sharp has joined Wendy Wu Tours’ trade team as its newest sales support executive. Like Waters, Wendy Wu’s head of trade sales, Gary King, said the operator was proud to be keeping a talented professional in the trade.

Baldwins – what happened?

Baldwins also owned a Grade II-listed property in Tenterden, Kent, and had other former premises in Cranbrook, Westerham, Grantham, Haywards Heath and Lewes.

Its troubles began during the pandemic when it was sold to Manchester-based investment group Inc & Co in 2021 in a multimillion-pound deal designed to help it through the crisis.

In October 2024, Jack Mason, a former Baldwins director and head of Inc & Co, was sentenced to 22 months in prison after being found guilty of contempt of court, alongside David Antrobus, Inc & Co director, and co-founder Scott Dylan. The trio were found in contempt for breaching freezing orders obtained by Barclays Bank over “unauthorised borrowings” of £13.7 million.

Baldwins lost its Abta membership in April after failing, the association said, to provide necessary financial information. In May, Iata suspended its membership and the agency also ceased to be an Advantage Travel Partnership member.