By Julia Labedz,Stephen Aherne

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Industry veteran Markus Kendall-Young has officially launched Auria Travel, a new independent travel agency that combines a traditional high-street and online presence with an innovative homeworking model.

The company opens its first retail store in Kendall-Young’s Leicestershire hometown this month and will simultaneously unveil a nationwide Travel Partner program for self-employed agents. By blending in-person service with modern flexibility, Auria Travel aims to offer customers personalised, trusted travel planning while empowering experienced travel professionals to build their own businesses under the Auria Travel brand.

Markus Kendall-Young: Three Decades of Travel Expertise

With over 30 years in the travel industry, Markus Kendall-Young (pictured) is a well-known figure who has held roles at major companies including Thomas Cook, Hays Travel, and Travel Counsellors.

He’s done everything from flying around the world as airline cabin crew to managing high-street travel stores and working as a personal travel consultant, gaining a 360-degree perspective on the business.

This breadth of experience inspired him to envision a different kind of agency – one that blends the best of high-street service and online convenience with the flexibility of homeworking.

“Opening a bricks-and-mortar travel agency has been a long-held dream of mine – and now it’s finally here.

Auria Travel isn’t just a business; it’s a passion project built on years of experience, a love of travel, and a belief in genuine customer service,” said Kendall-Young. “Whether you’re new to travel or a seasoned explorer, I’d love for you to get in touch.”

Brand & Marketing Support at the Core

Beyond his three decades in frontline travel roles, Markus also brings a wealth of experience from a successful career in marketing and business leadership outside the industry — expertise that has shaped Auria Travel’s contemporary brand identity and its strong focus on customer engagement.

This marketing know-how is now being channelled directly into supporting Auria’s growing network of Travel Partners, who benefit from brand-led lead generation, marketing collateral, campaign planning support and one-to-one mentoring. By combining proven travel expertise with strategic marketing insight, Markus is giving Travel Partners the tools and confidence to build their own client base while staying part of a trusted, recognisable brand.

Blending High Street and Homeworking

Auria Travel’s business model uniquely combines a physical storefront with online and remote services. The company believes this hybrid approach caters to both traditional and modern travellers, allowing clients to plan trips in-store with friendly, face-to-face service, or online with digital convenience.

“In the busy world we are in, people do appreciate that face-to-face time, especially when spending a lot on a tailor-made holiday,” Kendall-Young noted. “Having a high street shop builds trust, and I genuinely think we are seeing a renaissance of high-tech, high street travel agents.”

While Auria Travel offers bespoke, luxury itineraries, Kendall-Young is keen to stress the brand is “accessible for everyone and not necessarily just luxury” in its offerings. The first Auria Travel branch in Ashby de la Zouch is the company’s flagship, with plans to open two more retail stores in the East Midlands within three years.

As a member of Protected Trust Services (PTS), Auria Travel ensures all client payments are held in an independent trust account for full financial protection, and all flight-inclusive holidays booked through Auria Travel are ATOL-protected – providing peace of mind to customers from day one.

Empowering Self-Employed Travel Partners

Alongside its retail and online launch, Auria Travel has rolled out a new Homeworking Travel Partner program to recruit experienced travel professionals across the UK. This initiative invites self-employed travel consultants – or those aspiring to be – to join Auria Travel and run their own travel business under the Auria Travel brand, with the backing and support of a larger organisation.

The company touts that it is “throwing away the homeworker rule book” by removing traditional restrictions and red tape and fostering a culture of fairness, flexibility, and agent empowerment – as was evident at their recent induction day in Leicester.

For travel advisors, the proposition is designed to be highly attractive.

Key features of the Auria Travel Partner model include:

Lucrative commissions: A transparent commission split that grows with sales – agents can earn up to 80% of the commission as their business expands.

Early payouts: Commissions are paid out six weeks before the client’s travel date, boosting cash flow for Travel Partners.

Product freedom: Freedom to sell virtually any travel product. Partners can tailor-make holidays using dynamic packaging (including working with DMCs) with no source fees or forced mark-ups, and the supplier list is unlimited – no restrictions on which tour operators or airlines they can use.

No lock-in contracts, no tie-in periods: Travel Partners are free to leave at any time, and any commission they’ve earned will still be paid out.

Comprehensive support: Partners receive cutting-edge tools and support, including a market-leading travel reservations system, a full Microsoft 365 office package with an Auria Travel email, a dedicated phone line, and ongoing marketing support and mentoring from industry experts to help grow their business.

Visible brand backing: A high-street brand presence – Auria’s retail branches give home-based agents a tangible, trusted storefront that adds credibility for their clients.

Fair perks: Access to familiarisation trips and training events, allocated on a fair “no cliques” basis, so all partners get equal opportunities to learn and enjoy industry perks.

With this comprehensive package, Auria Travel is enabling agents to focus on providing exceptional service while the company handles the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

“We’re building something genuinely different here. You could say we’re throwing away the old ‘homeworker rule book’ – offering complete flexibility with no unnecessary red tape and a real commitment to fairness,” Kendall-Young explained.

“Our Travel Partners will be empowered as independent business owners, not just another number. If you’ve felt limited by other homeworking setups, we invite you to join us and truly lead the way with Auria Travel.”

Join Auria Travel’s Growing Network

Auria Travel is now actively seeking to build a UK-wide network of Travel Partners. The ideal recruits are talented travel advisors or entrepreneurs with a minimum of six months’ industry experience and an existing client base, who are eager to grow their business with strong support behind them.

Kendall-Young and his team encourage interested professionals to reach out and learn more about this opportunity.

For more information about joining as a Travel Partner, visit www.auriatravel.com/homeworking, contact the Auria Travel team via phone at 0333 210 2250 or email [email protected]

With Auria Travel’s launch, Kendall-Young’s vision of a new kind of travel agency is underway – and the company is warmly inviting travel professionals to be part of its next chapter.