Abta board to discuss Baldwins fallout amid pipeline claims concern

The result of a High Court hearing of a petition to wind up Baldwins Travel, filed by director Nick Marks, had still not been confirmed this week after it was rescheduled from late June, but Abta’s directors were due to discuss Baldwins and the impacts of its winding up at a meeting on Thursday.

It was understood that Abta may have incurred legal costs in excess of £200,000 in terminating Baldwins’ membership, although the amount is now expected to be "much lower", and the board was expected to query its handling of the company’s membership and of members’ claims for repayment of pipeline monies under a strict interpretation of Abta rules.

The association terminated Baldwins’ membership on April 1, but its membership committee first acted to expel the agency last autumn. That decision was revoked when Baldwins appealed and made certain undertakings, only for Abta to terminate its membership a second time in February for “failing to provide financial information”.

Abta then reinstated Baldwins a second time and allowed a further appeal to avoid the cost of an injunction.

At that point, members who were owed pipeline monies were told they could present claims, which would be covered by a £287,000 bond held by Abta. Whether this will be sufficient to cover Baldwins’ business across its 11 agencies in the final weeks and months of trading is unclear. One estimate puts the potential claims at up to £500,000.

Travel Weekly understands some Abta members failed to submit claims within an initial 21 days, raising concerns that they had missed a deadline, although Abta has subsequently made clear that claims may be submitted through to mid-November.

Other suppliers offered Baldwins extended credit, a practice which could leave some outside the pipeline protection scheme.

However, a separate Abta membership fund exists to cover claims submitted in exceptional circumstances.

Abta’s captive insurer, a Jersey-based subsidiary, in any case held £22.5 million at the end of June last year – more than enough to cover all claims related to Baldwins.

There is no suggestion that anyone at Abta was at fault, and Abta noted its board meetings remain confidential. A spokesperson said: “Given the high profile and unusually complex nature of the Baldwins Travel case, it is to be expected that a general update would be provided to the Abta board on this matter.”

Baldwins’ troubles stem from its £2.8 million acquisition in September 2021 by Inc Travel Group, part of a web of companies run by Jack Mason, who became a Baldwins director, Scott Dylan and David Antrobus.

Barclays Bank filed a High Court civil claim for £13.7 million in “unauthorised borrowings” by Mason, Dylan and Antrobus, which it alleges they used to acquire Baldwins, and sought freezing orders against the three to prevent the removal of Baldwins and other assets beyond the jurisdiction of UK courts.

A High Court judge, in a ruling last July, was satisfied Barclays had proved “to the criminal standard” that the three men breached the freezing orders by transferring these assets first to a company in the British Virgin Islands and then to the US State of Delaware under the name of Worldwide Travel Holdings, with the judge satisfied that Mason, Dylan and Antrobus remained the ultimate owners.

Barclays has now filed bankruptcy proceedings against the three. Marks was not available for comment.

This article was updated at 4pm on July 18.