“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.

Gilder, whose travel CV spans nearly three decades, reckons it is better to find another homeworker who wants to grow their business with your agency. “If someone wants to go, let them leave," he says. "If they’ve earned the money, pay them the money."

Gilder launched Adore's homeworking division last August. However, he claims “a couple of people” wanting to join Adore Holidays have already been put off moving because of restrictions imposed on them by their current agency.

'It literally made me ill'

TTG has spent several weeks speaking to homeworkers who are currently negotiating their exits with agency bosses, or have previously faced issues when trying to leave an agency.

Understandably, given the sensitivities around the subject, every agent we spoke to asked to remain anonymous, while just four agencies responded to our questions about how homeworkers exit their business.

One London-based homeworker in her 50s claims she is currently owed £12,000 by her former agency which finally left just before Christmas last year. The figure will be around £25,000 once all her customers have travelled later this year.

Speaking to TTG on condition of anonymity, she says: “I’m tempted to leave the industry – it has literally made me ill.”

Although the agent has managed to move to a new homeworking firm and is earning commission again, she says it’s unlikely she will ever see a penny of the commission she’s owed.

“I’m in my 50s, my husband is in his 60s, we’ve got savings to fall back on – we’re not on the breadline,” she says. “If you’ve earned your commission, no one should take it away. They’ve got me by the short and curlies. I’ve spoken to lawyers.”

She adds: “It’s not lost on me the majority of these companies are run by men and the agents are generally women.”

'I struggled to pay the bills'

TTG spoke to several homeworkers who all left the same agency once it was acquired, all of whom have had to forego thousands of pounds in commission they earned at their former agency. One Midlands-based homeworker was told she would lose “a chunk of commission” for each booking if she left before her customers departed.

The agent says she lost commissions worth around £8,000. She even stayed on for a further 12 months after the acquisition in the hope she could could get her money back. However, she ultimately decided to cut her losses and move to a new agency.

“If you shop at Tesco, and then move to Morrisons, Tesco can’t ban you,” she explains. “I was always worried I was walking away from £8,000 – it’s a lot of money. I make roughly £2,500 a month, so it took me about three months to recoup that debt."

She describes walking away from £8,000 and joining another agency as "the best decision" but also "tricky". “It was all a bit messy at the end," she adds.

This agent’s experience is not unique. One Yorkshire-based homeworker, who has worked in travel for more than 30 years, "gave up counting" how much commission she was owed at the £15,000 mark before moving.  

Other agents who had worked at the same agency together repeatedly told TTG part of the problem was they had slightly different contracts.

The Yorkshire-based homeworker, who has since started afresh elsewhere, tells TTG her contract did not have an end date. “Since leaving, I’ve had to rebuild – I’ve had to rely on my customers finding me,” she explains. “I did struggle to pay bills at the beginning. I had used all my buffer money during Covid and put myself in debt.”

Another agent, based in Staffordshire, says: “I lost about £3,000 but I had not been with the agency for very long. It took me about three or four months to get that back.”

Adore Holidays and Cruises managing director Ian Gilder pictured with branch manager Liz Williams (Credit: Adore Holidays and Cruises)

Gilder says homeworking agencies generally adopt one of three models when an agent wishes to leave. “One is that if you leave, the company keeps all your money, while the second option is you get your remaining commission once the last person has travelled.

“The third option is what we do at Adore because the commission is paid in advance. Therefore, we carry on paying the homeworker providing they sign a legally-binding personal guarantee.

“Because the money is paid before departure, we could take them to court if we chose to do so because there would be that legally-binding document in place.”

Continuity for customers

Matt Harding, director of franchise sales at Travel Counsellors, reveals the agency giant continues to pay commissions on existing bookings so homeworkers don’t forfeit all their commission if they leave.

However, he adds: “Where no cover is arranged for forward bookings, we may retain a small portion of commission to ensure customers continue to receive the support they need.”

Harding even confirms outgoing Travel Counsellors can take their customers with them, “with the exception of customers referred directly by the company or belonging to other Travel Counsellors”.

Sue Preston, head of Holidaysplease, notes the agency operates “a different model” to Travel Counsellors, which acquired Holidaysplease in March 2023. 

She adds: “When an agent chooses to leave us, they forfeit any commission on forward bookings.

“Instead, all existing and upcoming travel arrangements are immediately transferred to our Travel Experts team, who assume full responsibility for managing each booking and supporting the customer throughout.”

Preston argues this ensures “a smooth and uninterrupted handover", "safeguards the customer experience” and avoids “any disruption to the customers’ holiday plans”.

'We don't create barriers to future success'

Sussex-based agency Experience It Now Travel, which has 200 homeworkers, takes a similar approach. Director Richard Light says: “When a homeworker chooses to leave, we take responsibility for managing and servicing any forward bookings on their behalf.

"As we are then carrying the operational workload, the commission on those bookings is adjusted from 70% to 40% to reflect that change in responsibility.

"Besides that adjustment, commission is processed in the normal way and is paid in the usual cycle, typically in the month prior to travel.”

(Credit: Experience It Now Travel)

Light stresses his agency wants to help homeworkers build their businesses. The agency therefore only requires agents to give 30 days' notice if they wish to leave. “We believe this is fair for both sides and allows for an orderly handover of bookings and responsibilities,” he explains. “We do not seek to obstruct their business, restrict their clients or create barriers to their future success.”

Whether an agent requires a different business model, has a change of circumstance or has simply outgrown their relationship with head office, there could be many reasons why an agent wants an amicable divorce down the line.

Asking the right questions before embarking upon that relationship could save heartache on both sides when the time comes to move on.

Are you a homeworker or a boss of a homeworking agency with a view on the article above? TTG Media would like to hear from you. Email feedback@flymy.co.uk and share your thoughts