Abta has reinstated the membership of Kent-based travel agency group Baldwins Travel after the company lodged an appeal against its termination.
The agency stopped appearing on the association’s member search on Monday (February 17), with an Abta spokesperson later confirming its independent Members’ Committee had terminated the company’s membership “after it failed to provide the financial information required of them as an Abta member”.
Baldwins Travel director Nick Marks told Travel Weekly at the time the group was “surprised and disappointed” by the move and said it was taking legal advice as “we do not agree that there is a legal basis for what Abta has done”.
In a statement issued on Thursday morning, Abta confirmed Baldwins had asked to appeal the decision and the termination of membership had therefore been suspended.
The statement said: “Baldwins Travel Agency Limited has made a request for the recent decision to terminate its membership of Abta to be referred to Abta’s Appeal Board.
“As a consequence, Baldwins’ termination of membership is suspended from 20 February 2025 and they remain a member pending the outcome of the appeal; during this time and for as long as they remain a member, Abta’s financial protection will apply to bookings as usual.”
Baldwins said in a statement: “Baldwins Travel is pleased to announce the reinstatement of its Abta licences, following a successful appeal process on Monday, 17th February 2025.
“This positive development ensures that Baldwins Travel can continue offering clients a full range of services with the confidence of Abta protection.
“While travel agencies can operate as non-Abta members, the protection offered through the Atol scheme for holidays booked with Atol-protected tour operators ensures that all clients’ monies are fully safeguarded.”
Marks added: “We are absolutely delighted that Abta has reinstated our licences. This is fantastic news for our valued clients, and we’re looking forward to continuing to deliver exceptional travel experiences with the security and trust our clients expect from us. It’s business as usual.”
Baldwins, based in Tunbridge Wells, is a long-established former family-owned firm with 10 agencies in Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tenterden, Uckfield, Westerham, Cranbrook, Haywards Heath, Tonbridge, Lewes and, the most recently opened, Grantham.
The termination of membership had meant the withdrawal of Abta financial protection for pipeline money on future bookings with Abta member tour operators and other suppliers. However, pipeline money on existing bookings remained protected.
This week’s termination and reinstatement comes after Jack Mason, a former director of Baldwins Travel and head of its parent group Inc & Co, was sentenced to 22 months in prison last October after being found guilty of contempt of court.
Mason was chief executive of Inc & Co Group which acquired Baldwins in September 2021 and was a Baldwins director until December 2023.
He was sentenced in his absence after being found guilty in the High Court in July last year of breaching three freezing orders obtained by Barclays Bank.
Sentenced alongside Mason was David Antrobus, Inc & Co chief technology officer and director, who also received 22 months in prison for contempt.
A third respondent Scott Dylan, described as a “person of significant control” in the group which owned Baldwins, also received a 22-month jail sentence having pleaded guilty to contempt mid-way through the trial.
Mason stands to be arrested and committed to prison on his return to the UK from Spain where he is living. Antrobus also faces arrest if he returns from Ireland where he moved following the guilty verdict in July.
The judge found there was “a joint enterprise” by the three to breach freezing orders obtained by Barclays after it launched proceedings against them, and other parties including Inc & Co, in November 2021 alleging a conspiracy “to make unauthorised borrowings” of £13.7 million.
An Inc & Co subsidiary, Inc Travel Group, acquired Baldwins in September 2021 stating it would allow the company “to navigate out of the pandemic”. Inc & Co was jointly owned by Mason and a company called Fresh Thinking Group owned by Antrobus and Dylan.
Barclays had obtained freezing orders – against Inc Travel, Fresh Thinking and Mason – which prohibited the disposal of assets pending a full hearing into the case of the missing £13.7 million.
The assets subject to the freezing orders included 100% of the shares in Baldwins, which the three were found to have moved first to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) and then to one registered in the US state of Delaware.
The main proceedings brought by Barclays over the missing £13.7 million have yet to come to court.
Two associates of Mason, Dylan and Antrobus – Christopher Hatfield and Dan Shaw – resigned as directors of Baldwins Travel last November following the sentencing hearing.
Hatfield and Shaw had been appointed directors of Baldwins when it was acquired by Inc & Co in September 2021. Shaw subsequently left in May 2022 but returned in February last year before resigning in November.