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Tony Sheldon Travel
Tony Sheldon Travel has been trading in Maidenhead for 32 years. The business which originally started in the High Street has built up a very strong local brand and reputation for customer service and knowledge of the travel industry.
Tony Sheldon Travel joined the Freedom Travel Group 4 years ago when Mark Pollard bought the business over from the Sheldon family. Mark started work with the company after finishing college where he gained grades in business studies and travel & tourism. Mark soon became the retail travel manager, then office manager and developed both the business and retail travel for the agency. Tony Sheldon Travel were originally members of another consortia, but when Mark took the business he found that the best option for the business was to join the Freedom Travel Group.
Why Freedom Travel Group?
From the outset of joining The Freedom Travel Group team have been very helpful, supportive and always interested in our business.
We have found our Freedom membership to be excellent value for money, costing about the same as a book keeper would be but providing all of our consumer protection, back office software and support - the supplier terms are also very good.
ABTA and ATOL cover
The key reasons why Freedom was chosen is the membership to ABTA, the access to ATOL protection cover with out having to administer the ‘bonds’ and membership ourselves. They also provide our technology and really take out the day to day administration hassle of running a town centre travel agent. We do not have to deal with payments to suppliers, bank reconciliation or statement checking as this is all completed by Freedom head office. We are left to do what we enjoy, travel and marketing our business.
Still feel independent
As a business Tony Sheldon Travel feels more independent than we did with our previous consortia, we only display our own brand under Freedom and we tell our customers about the Co Operative Travel Group to show that we are part of something bigger and have access to ‘deals’ and the backing of a larger company. Just over a year ago we moved to new premises right in the heart of Maidenhead and have had a good year with some new customers and our local profile raised due to the new location. As an independent travel retailer who offers excellent customer service, provides independent unbiased advice and value for money to our customers we have a good future.
We would recommend Freedom membership to any travel business be it a start up or established business. The experience we have with the organisation is very good and value for money.