Baldwins director attends Advantage conference ‘to help staff and meet partners’

Baldwins Travel director Nick Marks said he chose to attend the Advantage Travel Partnership conference to help secure future roles for the agency’s staff and reassure operator partners, as the status of the business remains unclear.

Supplier partners are understood to be waiting for clarity on the future of the agency chain after it had its Abta membership terminated and its Iata accreditation suspended.

Travel Weekly understands payments have subsequently been made direct to suppliers on Baldwins bookings.

The agency is no longer a member of Advantage, but Marks said he had decided to attend the consortium’s annual event in Malta to help staff and meet with partners.

He said: “I am really devastated for the staff. I am at the Advantage conference for a number of reasons – [the event] is a travel family and I wanted to help the staff going forward, to help them find jobs and get support from a retail and operator perspective.

“It [also] enables me to connect with tour operators to make them understand that all the information they require is being processed and will be sent to them as soon as possible.”

Marks said he was unable to comment further on the future of the business.

Baldwins lost an appeal last month against its expulsion from Abta for “failing to provide financial information”.

The original decision to terminate its membership had been taken in February before the termination was suspended pending the appeal.

The agency chain had already appealed once, last autumn, against termination of its membership. That decision was revoked in light of undertakings made by Baldwins.

Two directors of the company, finance director Christopher Hatfield and chief commercial officer Dan Shaw, subsequently resigned

Iata confirmed on Wednesday (May 14) that it had suspended Baldwins’ accreditation.

A spokesperson said: “The Iata accreditation of Baldwins Travel has been suspended effective April 28, 2025. The suspension may be lifted if the company fulfils the reinstatement requirements by May 31, 2025.”

Advantage chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said: “It’s been a really tough time for Nick and the Baldwins team and we have been supporting them in any way we can.

“As always, our thoughts are with the family and the staff.”