Baldwins Travel staff 'key to future success of Premier Travel branches'

Experienced ex-Baldwins Travel staff will be key to the future success of the three stores now under Premier Travel, says boss Paul Waters.

Premier Travel has taken on the former Baldwins stores in Maidstone, Uckfield and Tonbridge, and recruited staff who were in the branches when they closed following the company’s failure.

Baldwins Travel was formally wound up on July 9 at the High Court.

All three shops are being rebranded as Premier Travel prior to reopening in late August or early September, bringing the total number in the agency’s network to 31.

Of the total, 26 shops are owned and run by Premier Travel, three are franchises and two are managed service branches. The company also has eight homeworkers.

Waters, managing director of Premier Travel, said good staff were a critical factor in the decision to take over the shop leases.

He said: “We would not have gone ahead with the deal if we didn’t have staff ready to go with them.  From my perspective, you need a good core of staff.  It was more about the staff than the location.”

The company has taken on five staff in the Tonbridge store, who were all working in the shop prior to its closure apart from one who was located in Baldwins’ Cranbrook shop and is moving back to work for the branch.

Three staff who worked at the Maidstone branch when it closed have been recruited by Premier Travel while a fourth team member is moving from another former Baldwins location.

Similarly, staff working at Uckfield when it shut are now being employed by Premier Travel, with another staff member moving back to work for the branch from Baldwins’ former Haywards Heath store and a trainee is joining from the former Lewes branch.

He said regular customers were likely to be attracted back to book in the three stores by the staff, who have a loyal, local following. Premier Travel has not bought Baldwins’ customer database.

Waters also stressed the importance of keeping talent in the travel industry as a motivating factor in the deal, saying it was “as much about keeping staff in the industry” as it was about expanding the retailer’s presence in the south east of England.

“It was to make sure we keep talent within the travel industry. It means you have got experienced staff selling our supplier partners. It benefits our supplier partners just as much as it benefits us because the staff know what they are doing,” he said.

He added Premier Travel had not been specifically looking to expand in the area but saw the opportunity as a good fit with its existing stores in the area, which include three franchise stores and one managed service branch.

Staff will now undergo training on the new systems and learn about the “ethos of the business”. But Waters added: “They are a very like-minded business and a good fit. They understand us; they have done their homework on us just as we have on them.”

The news comes as Wendy Wu Tours announces it has taken on former Baldwins Travel marketing executive Amy Sharp as sale support executive.