Skip to main content

'The stress made me ill': what homeworkers wish they'd known before switching agencies

Homeworking
Harry Kemble
18 February 2026

When a travel agent is choosing a homeworking organisation to join, the thought of what happens if and when they want to leave might well be the last thing on their mind. But some home-based agents looking for a change have found themselves wishing they'd paid more attention to the small print. Harry Kemble reports.

Stressed homeworking agent
Credit: iStock/stock_colors

Understandably, both the homeworker and the agency they're leaving need to protect themselves when they separate (Credit: iStock/stock_colors)

“Why be in a marriage you don’t want to be in?,” remarks Adore Holidays boss Ian Gilder when TTG asks what happens when a homeworker wants to leave his agency.

Since launching Adore’s homeworking division last summer, Gilder has recruited four homeworkers and, like any aspirational business owner, he wants more.

However, Gilder realises life is precious, the industry is small and that it’s likely to be short-sighted to hold onto a homeworker’s commission, contact their customers without permission or generally make their lives uncomfortable if an agent wants to leave.