Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions

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Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
Upgrade                                           Winter 2019
                                     FCM TRAVEL SOLUTIONS MEA

Elevating business travel intelligence

                  How to realign your
                travel strategy during
             mergers and acquisitions
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
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Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
Welcome                                                                                                   Winter 2019

                            T
                                   his issue of                   We also take a look at a new FCM report, ‘Women
                                                                  in Business Travel’, based on research we carried
                                   Upgrade focuses                out recently among our clients’ travellers to gain
                                   on the latest                  better insight into the preferences of female versus
                                                                  male travellers, and whether change is needed to
                             developments in                      accommodate their needs. Turn to page 19 to find out
                             travel management                    why there is actually more gender harmony in business
                                                                  travel than ever before.
                             from virtual card
                                                                  A new year is usually a time when we promise to make
                             payments and mobile                  some changes in our lives or business. Change is good. I
                             wallets to innovations               hope this issue of Upgrade helps you to embrace it!
                             in ground transport.
Winter is also a season marked by change. Our lead                Ciarán Kelly
feature on pages 4 to 6 examines how changes in                   Managing Director
company structure, in the shape of mergers and                    Middle East & Africa Network
acquisitions, impacts travel programmes.                          FCM Travel Solutions

Contents                                                                                          EDITORIAL
                                                                                                  COMMISSIONING EDITOR
                                                                                                  Betty Low
                                                15    Cultural diversity
                                                      Interview with FCM’s Asia MD, Bertrand      CONTRIBUTORS
                                                      Saillet, who manages a region of            Catherine Chetwynd, Linda Fox,
                                                      different technology, payment systems,
                                                                                                  Mark Frary, Bertrand Saillet
                                                      content and service expectations
                                                                                                  FCM EDITORIAL ADVISER
                                                                                                  Vanessa Aves

                                                                                                  ADVERTISING
                                                                                                  ADVERTISING SALES
                                                                                                  Sue Robinson

                                                                                                  DESIGN
                                                                                                  PRODUCTION & MANAGEMENT
                                                                                                  WonDesigns, Caren Johnstone

                                                 16                                               LEAD DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR
    4                                                                                             Leanne Armstrong
                                                Solar support & Soweto school                     DESIGNER
A world of difference                           FCM staff’s latest fundraising
                                                                                                  André Albuquerque
Mark Frary looks at how mergers and             and CSR initiatives
acquisitions can cause huge waves in                                                              PUBLISHING
travel programmes                               17    Women on the move
                                                                                                  MANAGER
                                                      Catherine Chetwynd looks at a new
                                                                                                  Rebecca Talbot
                                                      FCM report which examines trends
8       Play your cards right
                                                      among women business travellers             PRINTING
        Virtual cards, mobile wallets,
        contactless cards: is a revolution                                                        REBOX Group
        on the way? Linda Fox finds out                                                           Ed Cooling

10      FCM news                                                                                  ©FCMUPGRADE 2018
        What’s happening at FCM
                                                                                                  Images sourced from suppliers,
                                                                                                  FCM Travel Solutions, and stock
                          Upwardly mobile
                          Good ground                                                             photography
                          transport
                          management is about    19                                               New business enquiries
                                                                                                  salesuk@fcmtravel.co.uk
                          so much more than
                          appointing a car      Rooms for a view                                  Editorial and advertising
 12                       rental company        Brainstorms often require no distractions.        enquiries
                                                What UK venues might be suitable?                 enquiries@fcmupgrade.com

                                                                                                               FCMUPGRADE.COM       03
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
TRAVEL MANAGERS
             PROGRAMMES

     A world of difference        Mark Frary looks at how changes in company structure
                                  can cause huge waves in travel programmes

 M
                  ore than 13,500 mergers
                  and acquisitions have
                  been announced so far
                  in 2018, meaning this
                  could be a vintage year
     for corporate deals. In fact, the amount

                                                                                                  “
     of money changing hands has topped
     some US$2.72 trillion, according to
     M&A analysts Mergermarket. Deals
     like Comcast’s acquisition of Sky and
     Takeda’s proposed acquisition of Shire                                                       Supply chain synergies
     mean that 2018 is proving to be the
     second-best year on record – only            going to own the implementation have            account for between
     2007 was better at this point of the year.   signed up to the synergy numbers that
     The reasons for this are what John
                                                  you have bid on. If you are in a merger         30-50% of merger-
                                                  where procurement is half the business
     Kelly, Global Head of Integration and
     Separation at KPMG, calls “a wall
                                                  case, I personally want them to be              related increases in
                                                  involved in the deal.”
     of cash in private equity and
     sovereign wealth”.                           The Walgreens-Alliance Boots merger
                                                                                                  shareholder value”
                                                  of 2014 is a classic example where              The Power of Procurement
     Kelly, who has been involved with
                                                  procurement was involved early.                 in Mergers & Acquisitions, Accenture
     500 deals over the last 20 years, says,
     “People think equity markets are toppy       “There was a mismatch between the
                                                                                                  out. The team was on the phone with
     and want to be down on the stock             price of generic drugs across the world –
                                                                                                  a senior executive, and everyone
     market, there is uncertainty in property     they were much cheaper in the UK than
                                                                                                  was really getting into issues such as
     - so people are looking for a home to        in the US,” says Kelly. “Virtually all retail
                                                                                                  changing from this or that airline, and
     invest. Interest rates remain very low       mergers are driven by procurement,
                                                                                                  there was a sense of caution. Are we
     so there are trillions of dollars waiting    where 70% of the benefits are likely to
                                                                                                  going to do this or not? Will we lose
     to be invested in M&A.”                      be in that area. Procurement is easy, it
                                                                                                  support if we push too hard? And the
                                                  is other people’s money – it is fast and
     For some travel buyers and procurement                                                       executive said, ‘Let’s settle this; I’m
                                                  not painful. That is why people are very
     directors, the first that they know of a                                                     calling the CEO.’ And less than an hour
                                                  focused on it.”
     merger or acquisition is when they see                                                       later, the executive called back with
     the headline on their smartphone, but        When Chinese computer maker Lenovo              the CEO’s unwavering approval. Such
     that is not always wthe case.                bought the personal computer arm of             support was crucial – particularly since
                                                  IBM in 2005, combining procurement              in general procurement, one of your key
     In mergers and acquisitions between
                                                  was a priority - and merging travel             levers is compliance. The biggest source
     companies in sectors where business
                                                  policies provided an early win.                 of leakage is people getting around the
     travel is one of the largest indirect
     costs, the people responsible for            Speaking to McKinsey in 2008, the               rules and doing their own thing. We
     procurement in general, as well as those     company’s chief procurement officer,            found that reinforcing travel policies
     with a focus on business travel, are         Qiao Song, said that getting support            represented a sizable opportunity—
     much more likely to be involved earlier      from the CEO to combine travel policies         perhaps one-third of the savings.”
     on in the merger process.                    was vital.                                      The pharmaceutical industry is another
     Kelly says: “If I am looking around the      He told McKinsey: “There was one                example where travel can be an
     table, I want to see that people who are     moment fairly early on that stands              important driver of merger savings.

04    Winter 2019
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
Here, there are enormous travel costs         The advantage of the clean-room                behaving better or worse than you,
from the drug sales team visiting             approach is that this can be done before       they may be using lots of
general practitioners, and attendance         the closure of the deal.                       intercontinental - and you may not
at conferences is central to the whole                                                       get any benefit out of it.”
                                              KPMG’s John Kelly adds: “In week
business model.                               one I want to have all the conversations       Another problem is data – or the lack
In other industry sectors, travel may not     ready for each of the suppliers, with          of it.
be so important.                              all the combined purchasing data and           “What often happens is that the new
                                              on a consistent basis so I can go into bat     company doesn’t have a lot of data,”
Juan Antonio Iglesias, Head of Account
                                              with suppliers.”                               says Iglesias. “The approach then is that
Management for EMEA at FCM, says:
“Where travel is not a big part of their      In cases where business travel is not          after three to six months, we can see
                                              a key driver of the deal, it is often          what we are talking about.”
overall strategy, they will often leave
that aside and maintain the existing          viewed as a quick win after the deal           While boosting buying power will be
travel programmes separately while they       goes through.                                  a priority, there is also the small matter
concentrate on other things.”                 “Travel will be one of the functions           of aligning the travel policies of the
                                              they want to harmonise as soon as              two organisations.
Sarah Edwards, a consultant with Festive
Road who has worked on combining              possible,” says Iglesias. “It all depends      It is usual that the acquired company
                                              on leveraging volume which can                 normally be transitioned over to the
travel programmes in several merger
                                              automatically provide you with                 acquiring company’s travel policy
scenarios, says that in some sectors,
                                              better discounts.”                             in conjunction with the acquired
even though travel is important, there
are other issues at stake. “I have also       Combining volume is desirable but there        company’s HR and travel department.
worked for clients in the financial sector    are often barriers.
where it is potentially more sensitive,       One challenge is that the new air volume
and so we have no visibility until after      may not be additive. “In travel, 2 + 2
the event,” she says.                         doesn’t always equal 4,” says Iglesias.
If there is an opportunity for those          “The company you acquire could be
in charge of business travel to be
involved early, this is often done
by adopting a “clean-room” approach
where data from the two organisations               TOP SECTORS
is shared with a trusted third party, often
a management consultancy
                                                    FOR M&A, Q1-3 2018
with expertise in M&A. The third party
then approaches the supplier to see
what deals could be made with the
combined volume.                                                                                                    Industrials
                                                                                                                     and chemicals

“
Cost savings of up
to 15% are possible
                                                                                          Pharma, medical
                                                                                           and biotech

by combining
buying powerˮ
The Power of Procurement
in Mergers & Acquisitions, Accenture

Edwards worked on one merger in the                                                                                Energy, mining
FMCG sector where they were involved                                                                               and utilities
in advance of the acquisition. “We
could do a lot of the work in advance to
ensure we had a smooth transition and
employees’ expectations were met,” she            Business
says. “However, major airlines are not            services
always keen to share one company’s
pricing with another and sometimes
before the acquisition you only have a
rough idea on volume and spend but no                                                            Technology
specifics until afterwards.”

                                                                                                                  FCMUPGRADE.COM          05
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
TRAVEL MANAGERS

                     Kelly says there is a temptation for the       TUPE regulations in the UK mean that                 After all this, there is still the sobering
                     acquirer to think that because they are        when a company is sold, the terms and                reality that getting mergers and
                     the ones doing the acquisition, their          conditions of employment of its staff                acquisitions right is hard – really hard.
                     systems are better: “The person who            must be maintained. This is not                      The Harvard Business Review says that
                     has been bought who has a partner              restricted to terms and conditions                   “study after study puts the failure rate
                     and a family might think ‘If you don’t         that are contained in an employee’s                  of mergers and acquisitions somewhere
                     pick my system, I have no job’.                contract but also cover policies                     between 70% - 90%”.
                     This doesn’t necessarily make for              outlined in staff handbooks or that
                     a rational conversation.”                      have been established through                        KPMG’s Kelly concludes: “There is
                                                                    custom and practice.                                 no silver bullet, mainly because
                     Edwards agrees: “This can be sensitive,
                                                                                                                         deals require people to take actions.
                     especially if the new policy is perceived      Communication is the key to aligning                 People talk about having a playbook,
                     as less favourable, for example if             policy, believes Iglesias. “If you don’t             a set of policies with which you do a
                     business class was available for travel         do it properly, there is always going               merger, but 50% of what goes wrong
                     more than 6 hours but with the new             to be resistance from travellers and                 is people-related.”
                     company this could be over 9 hours - or        bookers. 99.9% is about selling the
                     even not allowed at all.”                      benefits and we make sure that the new               “People” have a lot to answer for,
                                                                    entity has the time to adjust.”                      it seems. 
                     Kelly says a lot depends on the travel
                     manager’s ability to get travellers to         Mergers also bring opportunities for
                     follow the new policy. “If an employee         consolidation beyond airlines and
                     is hugely invested in oneworld and
                                                                                                                          FINDING THE BENEFITS
                                                                    hotels – specifically around the
                     someone says they have to use Star             number of TMCs involved.                              FROM BUSINESS TRAVEL
                     Alliance instead, that is where it starts to
                                                                    With most large multinational                         INCREASED VOLUMES
                     grate,” he says.
                                                                    organisations, consolidation is                       Higher spend can lead to greater
                     It is not always a problem, however, says      inevitable, believes Edwards. “In some                negotiated discounts with
                     FCM’s Iglesias: “You find that most of the                                                           suppliers and enable greater
                                                                    instances you may end up with additional
                                                                                                                          rebates to be secured from
                     time, in the same industry sector, travel      TMCs where the local market is better                 corporate card programmes
                     policies are quite alike. You wouldn’t get     serviced with an incumbent agency, and
                     people being restricted to three-star          are just brought into the programme as
                     hotels in one company and allowing five-       you would a normal                                                            ACCESS TO NEW MARKETS
                     star hotels in another.”                       new market integration,” she says.                                            Adding new geographical
                                                                                                                                                  markets to a travel
                     In other situations, travel managers may       “The moment you have two TMCs,                                                programme may open
                     decide to leave two disparate travel           you don’t have the full picture,”                                             up working with global
                     policies in place for other reasons,           reiterates Iglesias.                                                          suppliers such as airline
                                                                                                                                                  alliances
                     such as the Transfer of Undertakings
                     (Protection of Employment) regulations
                     or TUPE.
                                                                                                                          SUPPLIER
                                                                                                                          RATIONALISATION
                                                                                                                          Reducing the number of travel
                                                                                                                          suppliers and increasing their
                                                                                                                          market share could lead to lower
                                                                                                                          costs or more ‘soft’ benefits, eg

                      GLOBAL QUARTERLY                                                                                    free wi-fi or lounge access

                                                                              Q1           Q3
                      BREAKDOWN TREND
                      2013–2018                                               Q2           Q4                                                 REDUCED HEADCOUNT
                                                                                                                                              Although the new organisation
                                                                              Deal Count                                                      may be larger in terms of
                                                                                                                                              headcount, the combined
                                                                                                                                              workforce may be smaller
                                                                                                                                              than the sum of the individual
                                                                                                    20000                                     companies, leading to reduced
                          4000                                                                                                                total spend on business travel
                                                                                                    18000
                          3500
                                                         1,199.6                                    16000
                                                                                                                          ACCESS TO MARKET
                          3000                                                                                            INFORMATION
                                                                                                    14000
     Deal Value (US$bn)

                                             824.7                                                                        The two organisations have access
                                                                    985.1     933.3                                       to a wider range of fares, rates and
                                                                                                            Deal Count

                          2500                                                                      12000
                                                                                           703.2                          fees and can see where they have
                                                         870.3
                                                                                                                          not been getting the best rates in
                          2000                                                                      10000                 the market
                                    570.3    853.3
                                                                              718.0
                                                                    873.3
                                                                                                    8000
                           1500                                                            1088.3
                                    656.9               1,039.6                                                                                   BETTER PAYMENT TERMS
                                                                                                    6000
                                                                              751.0
                          1000               963.7                  741.9                                                                         Moving from the 30-day
                                                                                                    4000                                          payment terms of one
                                    560.4                                                                                                         company to the 60 days of
                           500                                                             931.6                                                  the other can help improve
                                                         760.6                758.1                 2000
                                             570.7                  627.9                                                                         cashflow
                                    444.0
                              0                                                                     0
                                    2013      2014       2015       2016      2017         2018

06                        Winter 2019
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
in Partnership with

                                  FC MTRAVEL  -
                                                            ™
                                                  - SOLUTIONS

www.awardsinternational.ae/our-awards   I   @Awardslntl
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
TECHNOLOGY

     Play your cards right
     Virtual payments, mobile wallets, contactless cards:
     is a revolution on the way? Linda Fox finds out

 D
                evelopments in leisure                                                                                         NOT
                                                                         YES                                                   SURE
                travel very often catch on
                in corporate travel: think
                online booking, peer-to-
                peer accommodation and
     mobile everything.
                                                    Mobile                          22%
     This is true in the payments world                                                                                    33%
     too - although in some areas, such as          wallets
     virtual cards, it’s possible the corporate     Is your company’s
     travel landscape already has the lead.         primary corporate
                                                    card compatible
     But even those are taking time to
                                                    with mobile wallets?
     really catch on despite their benefits of
     speed, security and convenience.
     Research conducted by the GBTA and
     AirPlus has revealed that although
     companies are exploring ways to make                                                               45%
     payments easier for travellers, adoption                                                                                           NO
                                                    Note: Based on questionnaires
     rates are still relatively low. Just over      completed by 139 US travel
     10% of business travel programmes are          managers who had input into        Source: GBTA in partnership with
     using single-use or “virtual” cards, while     payment decisions in January       AirPlus, Five Business Travel Payment
     23% of respondents say they are likely         and February 2018                  Trends, June 2018

     to adopt them in the future.
     The research also looked at the
     feasibility of mobile wallets, which
                                                  supplier acceptance and spend                  target the leisure customer, it’s not
     enable travellers to store card details
                                                  visibility among their concerns about          hard to see them and/or regional
     and pay via mobile devices. For
                                                  the technology.                                versions catching on in a similar way
     corporate travelers, about 22% of their
                                                                                                 in other parts of the world for the
     companies’ main commercial cards             In theory, spend visibility shouldn’t be
                                                                                                 speed and convenience they offer to
     could be integrated into a mobile wallet,    an issue as further automation should
                                                                                                 business travellers.
     but 45% of travel managers said they         make it easier to gain a better overall
     could not and a third were unsure.           view of real spend. However, the reality       The ongoing rise of mobile will also
                                                  is that there are often issues around          drive development and adoption of
     There’s clearly work to be done in terms
                                                  integration with other technologies.           alternative payment methods.
     of education and adoption of new
     payment methods. Survey respondents          Supplier acceptance is another aspect          Another recent report from GBTA, in
     highlighted administration issues,           to consider. A recent announcement             partnership with U.S. Bank, revealed
                                                  from Alibaba’s travel platform and             that although awareness of mobile
                                                  technology specialist Shiji says that          wallet and contactless payments is

     “
                                                  facial recognition is now being used to        high, almost 50% of travel buyers don’t
                                                  enable travellers to check into a hotel,       see the benefits.
                                                  receive a room card and authorise
                                                                                                 Contactless cards are widely offered by
     There’s clearly work                         payment. Check-in kiosks are being
                                                                                                 companies, according to the research,
                                                  installed in 50 hotels in China, including
                                                                                                 while only 18% offer mobile wallet as a
     to be done in terms                          Marriott and IHG properties.
                                                                                                 payment option.
                                                  Hotel chains such as Mandarin Oriental
     of education and                             also now accept a wider range of
                                                                                                 Those that have adopted mobile
                                                                                                 payments say the barriers are
     adoption of new                              payment options for stays and food and
                                                  beverage, like Alipay and WeChat.
                                                                                                 cardholder education, integrating
                                                                                                 travel expense processes and the
     payment methodsˮ                             While these developments cater very            card setup process. But, they also
                                                  much to the local market, and often            cite benefits including better

08    Winter 2019
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
adherence to travel policy, a                                      Single-use cards
reduction in lost or stolen cards
and improved employee satisfaction.                                Why don’t more travel programmes use single-use cards?

One of the conclusions of the report
is that developments in the consumer
world will continue to drive adoption
of alternative payment methods.                                              62%
When tapping a smartphone to pay
for a coffee becomes ubiquitous, then                     Concerns about administration
business travellers will expect it to
extend to every part of their travels.
US consumers already use Google
Pay and Apple Pay at about 10,000
7-Eleven stores across the country.
The push from the consumer as an                                            53%
adoption driver is also supported by
research from Amadeus in conjunction                           Concerns about supplier acceptance
with pymnts.com revealing it as the
biggest drive to investment in new
payment options.

                                                                              39%

“
When tapping a
smartphone to pay
                                                                       Concerns about visibility/control

                                                                  Note: Based on questionnaires          Source: GBTA in partnership

for a coffee becomes                                              completed by 139 US travel managers
                                                                  who had input into payment decisions
                                                                                                         with AirPlus, Five Business Travel
                                                                                                         Payment Trends, June 2018
                                                                  in January and February 2018
ubiquitous, then
business travellers
will expect it to                          schemes or tie-ups with existing                service for call centre agents to take

extend to every part                       loyalty schemes?                                payment through a link sent by SMS or
                                                                                           email. The customer then completes
                                           Established players in B2B payments
of their travels”                          such as Conferma have already made
                                                                                           the payment from a smartphone, tablet
                                                                                           or PC.
                                           steps to stay relevant as the market
                                           progresses. In May 2018 the company             Finnair has already implemented the
                                           introduced its WALLET functionality,            technology and extended it to its
                                           letting prepaid funds be stored for             chat-based agents. The Agent Pay
                                           payment of air, rail, car rental and other      system also allows alternative payment
The research confirms that most travel                                                     methods such as Alipay and PayPal.
                                           services. This allows for fee reductions,
companies, including airlines, hotels      real time transactions, automatic               More of these initiatives will emerge
and intermediaries, are planning some      updates and reconciliation to build             in the corporate travel industry as the
sort of payment innovation.                greater efficiencies in all aspects             travel management community seeks
                                           of business.                                    to improve the experience for buyers
The conclusion from the Amadeus
                                                                                           and travellers. The benefits of not only
report is that we’re almost at “a          More recently, Conferma unveiled a
                                                                                           convenience and speed, but also tighter
payments innovation tipping point”,        mobile app for cashless payments
                                                                                           spend control and access to data, are
with companies recognising the need        which it says reduces the risk of fraud         being proven.
for change driven by consumers and         and allows for increased control on
the competitive landscape.                 spend. It also says the app makes               And innovation won’t stop there.
                                                                                           There is already a drive towards
It’s too early to say how this will play   expense management easier by
                                                                                           super-applications that encompass
out in corporate travel. Could one or      removing out of pocket expenses.
                                                                                           all the travel content, the itinerary
two mobile wallets gain traction in the    There are further signs that suppliers          management features, chatbot
sector over others by providing the        and technology specialists are looking          assistance and payment mechanisms
best user experience, easy integration     to alternative payment methods.                 built into one, although it is some
with existing processes and incentive      Amadeus launched its Agent Pay                  way off. 

                                                                                                                  FCMUPGRADE.COM              09
Upgrade - How to realign your travel strategy during mergers and acquisitions
NEWS

     TOP STORY

     Ground transport
     booking moves
     up a gear
     FCM’s ground transport booking services
     have moved up a gear with the launch
     of Amadeus’ transfers technology
     solution. In addition, FCM has partnered
     with MYCAB International SA as the
     first preferred global ground transfers
     provider to be integrated within the
     Amadeus’ transfers solution in the UK
     and EMEA.                                          MOUNTAIN LOCATION
     The move means FCM consultants                     FOR MEA CONFERENCE
     can seamlessly book MYCAB ground
     transfers via Amadeus Selling Platform
     Connect. Traveller details and dates are                                                     Marrakech was the location for FCM
     automatically extracted from existing                                                        MEA’s latest conference in October 2018.
     flight bookings, populating the search                                                       But this was no ordinary venue. Some 50
     fields. The booking is fully integrated into                                                 delegates from FCM senior management
     the PNR, which allows for simplified trip                                                    headed up to the local Atlas Mountains
     servicing and easy access to a transfer                                                      for the three-day event where business
     booking when needed.                                                                         sessions took place under canvas in
     Amadeus’ solution and MYCAB content                                                          traditional Moroccan tents.
     is also fully enabled with FCM’s powerful                                                    The theme #StrongerTogether gave the
     new SEEQA online booking tool. As a                                                          group the opportunity to talk about their
     result, for the first time, travellers and                                                   vision, strategy and success stories in
     bookers can arrange point-to-point                                                           the region and followed on from their
     transfers and chauffeur services at over                                                     previous gathering in Muscat in May
     300 airports and cities in 75 countries                                                      when over 250 global colleagues were
     using an online booking tool. Launched                                                       also present.
     earlier this year, SEEQA is a bespoke
     solution built on of the Amadeus                                                             Suppliers such as Amadeus spoke about
     cytric Travel & Expense tool that allows                                                     automation and bringing further cost
     FCM to add proprietary functionality                                                         savings to FCM clients in the region.
     and content.

                                                    NEW GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGER
                                                    Scott Alboni has been appointed as Global Marketing Manager for FCM Travel
                                                    Solutions. He brings substantial expertise across multi-channel platforms, as his career
                                                    includes senior branding, marketing and design roles in the business travel and private
                                                    healthcare sectors.

                                                    Based in London, Alboni will work closely with FCM’s Global Managing Director Marcus
                                                    Eklund, and Frits de Kok, Chief Marketing Officer, Flight Centre Corporate, as well
                                                    as FCM’s regional marketing leaders, to strengthen the company’s global marketing
                                                    position and focus on global strategic objectives.

10    Winter 2019
SPEAKING OUT
                      It has been a busy time for FCM in
                      terms of taking part in in key business
                      travel industry conferences. First
                      up was the annual Business Travel
                      Tech Talk London on Thursday 6th
                      September. FCM’s Chief Experience
                      Officer, John Morhous, was on the
                      first panel of the day, discussing how
                      to apply AI and machine learning
                      to business travel. Next came The
                      Business Travel Conference on 17th
                      and 18th September when Paul Jarvie,
                      FCM’s Head of Account Management,
                      North UK spoke during a session
                      entitled ‘Do behave! Getting your
                      travellers to comply with travel policy’.
                      Finally, The Business Travel Summit
                      took place on 17th October. In addition
                      to sponsoring the event, FCM was also
                      represented in three different ‘meet the
                      expert’ sessions by Matthew Heymans,
                      Enterprise Sales Director, Rachel
                                                                       Paul Jarvie, Head of Account Management North UK
                      Newns, Hotel Programme Manager                   spoke on a panel at The Business Travel Conference
                      and Andrew Barker, Director of Sales
                      for cievents.

Industry expert Jo-Anne Lloyd from
global strategic consulting and                  TAKING THE LEAD WITH NDC
accredited training company Nina &
Pinta also attended the conference
for the second year to give insights             FCM is continuing to take the               solution design process, integration
into procurement strategies and                  lead in driving development of              and testing of an end-to-end NDC
cultural intelligence.                           technology to book IATA’s New               solution to meet customer needs.
                                                 Distribution Capability (NDC)               The Beyond NDC program will
“This was a very successful conference
                                                  airline content in the corporate           ensure that the future booking
in an inspirational location,” said
                                                 sector around the globe.                    of airline product optimises the
Ciarán Kelly, Managing Director for
                                                                                             distribution capabilities of direct and
FCM in Middle East and Africa. “Not              Global technology provider Sabre
                                                                                             indirect distribution channels, giving
only did the group spend valuable                has named FCM as a launch
                                                                                             FCM customers access to NDC-
time discussing our business in the              partner for its collaborative
region, but teamwork activities such                                                         enabled product quickly and easily.
                                                 initiative ‘Beyond NDC’ in the USA,
as a stunning zip line across the                Australia and New Zealand. FCM              Meanwhile in EMEA and Asia, as
mountains really got people to work              will participate with Sabre in the          announced in March 2018, FCM
closely together.”                                                                             Travel Solutions was the first
                                                                                               travel management company
                                                                                               to partner with Amadeus in
                                                                                               development of the technology
                                                                                               provider’s NDC-X Program. FCM
                                                                                               is already working closely with key
                                                                                               airline suppliers to test integration
                                                                                               of NDC content in Amadeus’
                                                                                               Selling Platform Connect solution.
                                                                                               This will enable FCM’s business
                                                                                               travel consultants to access
                                                                                               an even richer choice of fares
                                                                                               and NDC content in an already
                                                                                               familiar technology environment,
                                                                                               personalising the booking
                                                                                               experience for their clients.

                                                                                                                      FCMUPGRADE.COM   11
SUPPLIERS

     Upwardly mobile
     Ground transport management requires much
     more than just appointing a car rental company…

     G
                    round transport is growing      Technology is facilitating
                    up. It is now a fully-fledged   communication and the ability to offer
                    category that travel            a more consistent and comprehensive
                    managers handle rather          service, from pricing to data.
                    than just purchase.
                                                    As the sector develops, the thinking
     This has been born out of both                 behind it also becomes more strategic
     necessity and market evolution.                and the suppliers are no longer
                                                    car rental companies or chauffeur
     There’s pressure on travel departments
                                                    drive firms but want to be known as
     to deliver value for money, whether by
                                                    providers of “mobility solutions”.
     saving costs or improving the traveller
     experience. This has been exacerbated          As James Raffo, Group CMO of MYCAB,
     by the growing maturity of airline             explained, the ability to configure the
     relationships, meaning fewer savings           service to individual TMC or corporate
     opportunities. As this has traditionally       requirements is why they think of
     been the largest part of any corporate         themselves as a travel solution rather
     travel programme, the pressure is              than a transport company.
     going elsewhere.                               Ground transport solutions can be
     New legislation and changing corporate         divided into four main sectors:
     cultures are also driving change.
     Duty of care is now an important
     consideration so vehicle usage for
                                                    1  CAR RENTAL
                                                        Self-drive vehicles, usually from
                                                    and to the airport, are the backbone of
                                                                                                  MYCAB
     business is under the HR microscope.
                                                    most ground transport programmes.             MYCAB is a good example of the
     “Travel managers’ biggest challenge in         Although less important in the UK than        new generation of companies that
     ground transportation is duty of care,”        in the US, it is still a significant cost –   describe themselves as providers
     says Avis’ Julia Kemp. “You know where         and source of cost savings – in most          of mobility solutions which are
     corporate travellers are when they             travel budgets.                               ground transport services for
     are in the air or in a hotel - but there’s                                                   current needs.
                                                    Duty of care is also a major
     a need to understand where they
                                                    consideration (road fatalities and            Founded in Sweden in 2006, it
     are on the ground – are they driving
                                                    casualties are much more likely than air      now operates in 75 countries.
     themselves or being driven? The future
                                                    accidents). One large multinational’s         It owns no vehicles but says it
     is with technology to help companies                                                         is not an aggregator as it has
                                                    policy limits eligibility to drive out of
     understand their duty of care.”                                                              direct partnerships with small,
                                                    the airport to those who have flown less
     Technology has also precipitated the           than 13 hours, for example. And some          local companies and individuals
     options for ground transport to evolve         organisations restrict how many of its        which all use the same technology
     from a central solution for car rental         same employees may travel together in         to ensure consistent data and
     and local solutions for everything             the same vehicle.                             reporting and service standards.
     else, to enabling what was once a                                                            James Raffo, Group CMO, says it’s
     fragmented category into one which                                                           important for clients to know they
     can be managed.
     According to Kemp, who is Director of
     Global Sales and Partnerships, “change
     is being led by globalisation and where
     people are going. In India and
     China, you’ll want to be driven,
     even if you are a regular
     car driver.”

12    Winter 2019
Managing car rental programmes has
unique challenges. There’s no product         2   RIDE-HAILING
                                                   Ride-hailing, a term used
                                              traditionally for the taxi sector, is often
                                                                                            which can take care of the journeys
                                                                                            whose time, origin and destination
differentiation: all offer cars at the same                                                 are known in advance. These are
airports. “What differentiates car rental     used to describe sharing economy              most often used for airport transfers.
companies at the core of corporate            alternatives such as Uber and Lyft.           Transfers to and from rail stations are
programmes is people, account                 Both are targeting business travel and        also becoming a more important part
managers and rental sales agents,”            increasingly becoming part of the             of this sector.
says Kemp. “What people want is               managed travel programme.
speed - to get people into a car as
quickly as possible.”
                                              More and more travel departments
                                              are negotiating a taxi service for the
                                                                                            4   CAR-SHARING
                                                                                                 The principle of car-sharing isn’t
                                                                                            new. Large organisations would often
The differentiators are elements              whole organisation to replace a process
                                                                                            lease vehicles for their employees’ use.
of service such as data provision             of reimbursing expense claims for
                                                                                            What is relatively new is the concept
(including that for duty of care) and the     cash payments to a wide range of
                                                                                            of corporate car-sharing clubs such as
service itself, which is very much driven     small companies.
                                                                                            Hertz 24/7 and Avis Zipcar, however.
by location. Their apps do differ, but
not that much.
The big differentiating factor is cost,
                                              3   BOOKED CHAUFFEUR DRIVE
                                                   There’s a group of corporate-
                                              friendly organisations such as MYCAB
                                                                                            On demand cars can be dropped at the
                                                                                            traveller’s business or home address,
                                                                                            and billed on a minute or hourly basis.
so negotiations are vital. Day rates
are usually similar, but extras such                                                        They are especially beneficial for inner

                                              “
as refuelling and airport taxes are                                                         city short trips and one-way trips. Julia
negotiable and can vary significantly.                                                      Kemp reports that since launching
                                                                                            Zipcar Flex – the ability to reserve a
In addition, a corporate might receive a                                                    car in London up to 15 minutes before
signing-on fee and a rebate dependent         Technology is                                 needed and then just use the Avis
on the volume of business transacted.                                                       app to open it and go – one-way trips
Another area to consider is insurance         facilitating                                  between central London and Heathrow
                                                                                            have zoomed. “This is for people who
and to compare car rental company
insurance with what is covered by the         communication and                             don’t need a car on a consistent basis
                                                                                            but the convenience of having
traveller insurance which a company
already has in place.                         the ability to offer                          access,” she says.

                                              a more consistent                             CONCLUSION
                                                                                            Just as the GDS is no longer the sole
                                              and comprehensive                             corporate travel distribution channel,
will receive a “reliable service across                                                     car rental remains the largest and most
all its staff no matter where they            serviceˮ                                      important mobility solution but it is no
are, whether they are in Singapore                                                          longer the only option.
or Stockholm or St Louis. There are
                                                                                            Business travellers need the widest
standards to uphold. They turn up on
                                                                                            possible air and hotel content. They also
time, vehicles are clean, the driver is
                                                                                            increasingly want a choice of ground
fully licensed and vetted.”
                                                                                            transport solutions.
The service can be configured
                                                                                            To quote Julia Kemp: “We’re trying to
as required by each client to
                                                                                            put all this together for people who
take account of travel policy
                                                                                            want to have choice and move between
and content is available via
                                                                                            the different mobility options.” 
the GDS or a direct API. Detailed
 data is available to facilitate
both expense management
and future strategy.

                                                                                                                FCMUPGRADE.COM          13
INTERVIEW

                            Cultural diversity
                            across Asia
                            Bertrand Saillet manages a region with different
                            experiences of technology, payments, content and service

A
             sia is home to the world’s       who left his native France for Bangkok        Understanding the nature of the
             most economically                eight years ago. After working for            region’s diversity is central to achieving
             buoyant economies.               Amadeus both there and in Singapore,          a successful travel management
             GDP growth in both               he joined FCM three years ago and was         programme. Many of FCM’s clients
             China and India is around        appointed Managing Director FCM Asia
                                                                                            are multinationals with an HQ in North
7%, while US and UK GDP rates hover           last July.
                                                                                            America or Europe.
around the 2% mark.
                                              TECH CHALLENGES
That means lots of business travel                                                          There may be diversity in their own
                                              His challenges around compliance also
and an explosion in the level of intra-                                                     region, but “they tend to think of Asia
                                              vary from market to market.
Asia travel.                                                                                as one. We can help our customers
                                              In a tech-comfortable country like            understand Asia better and make more
As Managing Director Asia for FCM,
                                              China where, Saillet explains, “most
Bertrand Saillet is responsible for FCM’s                                                   informed decisions,” says Saillet.
                                              transactions are virtual, and cash is
direct operations in China,Hong Kong,
                                              largely absent from everyday life”,           He cites the example of a US-based
Singapore and Malaysia, as well as its
                                              70-80% of travel is domestic and              travel manager wanting to deploy the
partner network in the region. He is
                                              online booking tool adoption has been         same booking tool everywhere: “Once
keen to emphasise how diverse
                                              relatively easy to drive. On the other        you arrive in Asia, that’s impossible.
the region is, with each market
                                              hand, he says: “Hong Kong online is           That tool might have only some small
having its own distinctive
                                              very low, Singapore a bit better - but in
characteristics and challenges.                                                             part of content. All this needs to be
                                              the rest of the region it’s non-existent.
“If you’re in China, Japan or Korea,                                                        explained and discussed before making
                                              “In Asia, some people find ways to play       a decision.”
you don’t have the same booking
                                              with travel policies. In Singapore and
experience, technology and culture,”
                                              Hong Kong there are a lot of senior           Both local and multinational travel
he says.
                                              people who are less likely to follow a        managers need visibility of their
CONTENT IS KING                               travel policy.”                               travel programme - but it’s extremely
Content, and the access to content, is                                                      difficult to gather full data with so many
                                              The region’s corporate clients have high
fundamental - and just one example of                                                       booking channels. To consolidate rail
                                              service expectations - but according to
the complexity that travel management
                                              Saillet, also want to reduce their internal   data, for example, requires combining
in Asia involves.
                                              demand management costs.                      information from different channels
“In China it’s Travelsky which works                                                        and different booking systems in
                                              Asia has traditionally been seen as
like an international GDS, but it doesn’t                                                   different markets.
                                              a low cost labour market. This no
have hotel content so you must use
                                              longer is the case when in many major
a hotel aggregator for local hotel                                                          “We are driving expense management
                                              cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and
content,” explains Saillet. “Domestic                                                       more and more, especially for the
                                              Shanghai, wages are comparable to
Chinese business travellers to second                                                       large multinationals and it’s getting
                                              other big cities across the world. The
and third tier cities will seek local hotel                                                 better, but there are still a lot of manual
                                              role of the travel booker is still seen as
chains, rather than the large western
                                              an important one across Asia. While           processes behind the scenes.”
chains which are only found in tier
                                              increasing, the adoption of online            His positive energy is contagious. “I’ve
one cities. These hotels are not always
                                              booking tools in some markets is still a
available in the GDS.                                                                       never been happier in my job,” he says.
                                              work in progress.”
“In both Korea and Japan, each airline                                                      “This is a company which moves at
has its own distribution system.              MANAGING SERVICE EXPECTATIONS                 a fast pace which suits me very well.
In Thailand, Thai Airways distribute          But Asia’s rapid economic growth is           Finding new ways to do things is
through one outlet, Amadeus, so if you        happening within cultures which value –       always valued.”
use another GDS, you have to connect          and expect – a high level of service.
to Amadeus.”                                                                                Saillet himself exudes the same agility.
                                              “There is resistance to technology
                                                                                            It is a good corporate match for a
Being responsible for such a diverse          where people are concerned,”
                                                                                            region of booming economies. 
region is the perfect job for Saillet,        he continues.

                                                                                                                 FCMUPGRADE.COM           15
CHARITY

     Shining a light
     on energy poverty
                                                                                           SCHOOL KITCHEN
                                                                                           PROJECT HEATS UP

                                                                                           FCM staff’s fundraising endeavours
                                                                                           have paid off, as a total of £100k
                                                                                           has now been raised. This means
                                                                                           work can start on a new kitchen at
                                                                                           the Qhoboheane Primary School in
                                                                                           Soweto, Johannesburg.
                                                                                           As part of Flight Centre
                                                                                           Foundation’s five-year ‘adopt
                                                                                           a school’ initiative, FCM has
                                                                                           already raised money to renovate
                                                                                           classrooms and play areas at the
                                                                                           school. Now the deposit has been
                                                                                           paid and work will soon start on a
                                                                                           new kitchen. This will replace the
                                                                                           current ‘kitchen’ of stove and sink in
                                                                                           a shipping container, where lunch
                                                                                           is prepared for almost 500 pupils
                                                                                           every day, some of whom get there

     A
                                                                                           only meal here.
                   s part of Flight
                                                                                           Staff took on activities such as
                   Centre Foundation’s
                   latest initiative, FCM                                                  marathons, mountain climbing,
                   has partnered with            Staff at Flight Centre’s Global           sky dives and 100km walks, as
                   SolarBuddy, a charity         Conference built 2,000 SolarBuddy         well as office-based bake sales,
     dedicated to illuminating the future        lights, which were shipped to children    World Cup sweepstakes and Royal
     of those living in energy poverty.          in Papua New Guinea and South Africa.     Wedding celebrations to raise the
                                                 And at FCM’s Focus Conference,            much-needed funds. But that’s
     Approximately 18% of the world’s
                                                 delegates made 400 SolarBuddy             not all: staff will soon be heading
     population has no access to electricity
                                                 lights which have been sent to children   to Soweto again to help out at
     – that’s around 1.4 billion people living
                                                 in Madagascar.                            the school and see the kitchen’s
     in darkness. This severely impacts
     education, health, the economy and                                                    progress first hand.
     the environment. SolarBuddy’s mission
     is to help break this cycle and improve
     the educational opportunities of six         Soweto school kitchen
     million children living in darkness, by
     providing them with solar lights to
     study after dusk.
     The gift of a SolarBuddy solar light
     helps children living in energy poverty
     to continue studying long after the sun
     goes down, improving their education
     outcomes and overall health and
     wellbeing. Early stage evaluations
     indicate that children with a solar light
     are studying up to 38% longer.

16    Winter 2019
TRAVELLERS

Women on the move
A new FCM report looks at trends among women business travellers

T
          he number of female travellers has increased by 50% over the
          past five years. Nearly two-thirds of travellers today are women,
          and women make 80% of all travel decisions. This is significant:
          670 million women worldwide control $15 trillion in spending
          power, making female travellers a market twice the size of
China’s and India’s markets combined (Harvard Business Review).

                                          The gender pay gap and pressure
                                          for equal pay for equal jobs have
                                          brought fair and equal treatment of
                                          women once more under scrutiny; the
                                          differences between the requirements
                                          of female and male travellers continue
                                          to exercise the mind of the corporate
                                          buyer. A panel at the GBTA convention
                                          last year (2017) debated the need for        Duty of care is the legal right of any
                                          travel managers to have a dedicated          employee, and traveller well-being
                                          policy for solo women travellers,            continues to make its way up the
                                           a topic which polarised opinion             agenda as travel buyers realise that
                                          among delegates.                             people who are well looked-after
                                                                                       perform better and make a positive
WHAT DON’T YOU LIKE ABOUT BUSINESS TRAVEL?                                             impact on the bottom line.
                                                                                       FCM has just released a Women
                                                                                       in Business Travel report (http://
Cultural                     Note: Percentages refer to the proportion                 uk.fcm.travel/report/women-in-
differences                  of 100 each category attracted. Respondents               business-2018) which is based on
                             were able to give more than one answer
Food                                                                                   a survey of business travellers
                                  Men        Women           All
preferences                                                                            conducted during summer 2018.

Social                                                                                 According to the report, just 18%
expectations                                                                           of corporate travel policies address
                                                                                       the safety needs of this group, and
Dislike
traveling solo                                                                         although 61% of buyers believe it is
                                                                                       important to consider matters of
Nervous
traveller
                                                                                       safety for women, only 44% have
                                                                                       made arrangements to allow them
Safety                                                                                 to recommend female-friendly
concerns
                                                                                       lodging options, which are available
Disruptive                                                                             in hotels worldwide.
to work
                                                                                       Personalisation of travel arrangements
Away from                                                                              is also increasingly popular as a means
family/partner
                                                                                       of driving compliance to policy. To that
                 0%   10%   20%     30%      40%      50%          60%     70%   80%   end, travel managers are engaging with
                                                                                       more diverse groups of travellers.

                                                                                                            FCMUPGRADE.COM        17
PRIMARY REASONS FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL
                                                                                                               are. This is despite a notable 70% of
                                                                                                               female travellers belonging to an airline
                                                                       Note: Percentages refer to
                                                                       the proportion of 100 each              loyalty scheme vs 37.2% of men. Pearson
     Event/                                                            category attracted.                     thinks this may be because while men
     Conference
                                                                          Men                                  are loyal to one programme, women
                                                                                                               may have numerous memberships and
                                                                          Women
     Project                                                                                                   prioritise convenient departure times
                                                                          All
                                                                                                               and routes over earning loyalty points.

     Training
                                                                                                               The three most frustrating elements
                                                                                                               of flying for men and women are time
                                                                                                               wasted at the airport, delays and
     Internal                                                                                                  cancellations and security processes, in
                                                                                                               that order for women, and delays and
                                                                                                               disruption first for men.
     Client
     meetings                                                                                                  Not surprisingly, location is the most
                                                                                                               important factor in the choice of a hotel
                  0%        5%         10%           15%         20%       25%          30%         35%        with free wi-fi a close second. Nearly
                                                                                                               60% of the respondents, distributed
                                                                                                               evenly between men and women,
     Despite a bigger focus on their special               sales, trained professionals, support
                                                                                                               preferred a property close to their
     needs, the FCM survey found that                      and consultants.
                                                                                                               meeting or office.
     women and men dislike the same things                 Although nearly equal proportions of
     about business travel. The biggest thing                                                                  It is much documented that women
                                                           men and women travel by air, more
     on that list is being away from family/                                                                   travellers do not like using hotel bars
                                                           women use the train and more men use
     partner. They also find it disruptive to                                                                  and/or restaurants alone, but FCM’s
                                                           self-drive. “I think that’s end-to-end
     work, dislike travelling alone and have                                                                   research shows that the restaurant, bar
                                                           convenience; you have everything with
     safety concerns.                                                                                          and gym are the three most used hotel
                                                           you and can work, read and someone
                                                                                                               facilities in roughly equal numbers by
     More positively, 45.83% of women enjoy                else is doing the driving; and it is
                                                                                                               both sexes. That said, 42.5% of men
     travelling, in comparison with 39.58% of              probably a bit more secure to go by
                                                                                                               drink alone in the bar, in contrast to only
     men. Both enjoy face-to-face interaction              train,” says Carolyn Pearson.
                                                                                                               32.2% of their female colleagues.
     most (60%), followed by meeting                       Men also prefer to drive to the airport,
                                                                                                               Where the controversial sharing
     colleagues and the experience of travel.              but marginally more women take a
                                                                                                               economy is concerned, business
     Being away from the daily grind is                    taxi. And it is interesting that using
                                                                                                               travellers are evenly split as to whether
     liberating, according to Carolyn                      an airport lounge as an oasis from
                                                                                                               or not they would stay in an Airbnb. Of
     Pearson, CEO of Maiden Voyage, a                      plastic chairs, children and ice cream
                                                                                                               this 50%, however, women are more
     network of professional women                         makes only a minor contribution to the
                                                                                                               amenable than men (29% v 21.3%).
     business travellers: “Professionally,                 enjoyment of travel, with just 23.8% of
                                                           business travellers using one every trip            The report concludes, “male and female
     I think much more creatively when my                  and 33.7% doing so occasionally. More               business travellers are probably more
     senses are being stimulated by new                    men use them regularly (15.3%) than                 similar, more homogeneous, than ever
     things; I will leave the office and come              do women (7.7%), and 24.9% of women                 before. With just a few exceptions, the
     back with 10 million ideas.                           say they never use a lounge, against                tastes and habits of both genders are
                                                           18.5% of men. Lounge access, however,               the same.”
     “Women tend to be doing lots of
     things at once – filling the dish washer,             is determined by loyalty programme                  Maybe Venus and Mars are closer to
     engaging with their partner, dealing with             status or class of travel, so usage may             colliding than anyone realised. 
     children, and it all takes time. When we              have more to do with entitlement                    For sources please consult the full report which
     are on a business trip, we are given a                than preference.                                    is available for download at uk.fcm.travel/report/
                                                                                                               women-in-business-2018
     respite… I never turn the TV on at home               Class of travel flown
     but I do in a hotel; so definitely, I love my         is also an eye-opener.             WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN
     business travel.”                                     There is little difference         CHOOSING A HOTEL?
     The research overall found a general                  below business class
     consistency in experience and attitudes               but where only 9.7% of
                                                           women turn left on the                                     Men         Women            All
     between men and women.
     But one notable gender difference                     plane, 13.5% of men opt
     which emerges is the reason for business              for greater comfort -
                                                                                              Bar/restaurant
     travel. Meeting clients is the single                 although 78.4% said the            on site
     biggest reason for men (22.3%), but is                choice was determined
                                                                                              Price
     only true for 12.5% of women, whose                   by company policy.
                                                                                              24hr reception
     main reason is internal meetings (12.9%)              Loyalty programmes
     against 10.3% for men. This is surprising,            throw up another                   Free wi-fi
     allowing for the profile of those polled –            discrepancy: 10% of men
     51.98% women, 48.02% men and 33.08%                   are motivated by rewards           Location

     managers/supervisors with smaller                     when choosing an airline,                            0%    1%    2%   3%    4%     5%    6%    7% 8%     9%
     percentages of senior executives, admin,              but only 6.7% of women

18    Winter 2019
EVENTS

                                                                                         London-based business’s team meeting
                                                                                         as it’s spitting distance from Green Park

Rooms for a view
                                                                                         station and Berkeley Square.

                                                                                         Andaz London, Liverpool Street
                                                                                         This property oozes history. It was the
Brainstorms often                                                                        site of the original Bedlam, Britain’s
                                                                                         famous first hospital for the mentally ill,
require no distractions.                                                                 in the 13th Century. It was also once the
                                                                                         Great Eastern Hotel, one of the most
What UK venues                                                                           notable of Britain’s railway hotels.
                                                   LONDON
might be suitable?                           If you’re looking for a venue which         A hotel, which is right next to Liverpool
                                             guarantees an atmosphere different          Street Station, has stood on this
Corporates usually source venues             from your office and privacy, you could     site since 1884. The Andaz, Hyatt’s
for client meetings, staff training,         do worse than use one of London’s           luxury boutique brand, is the latest
product launches and team-building.          clubs. Even if you (or the boss) aren’t     incarnation.
But how about when it’s time for a           members of one of the “gentleman’s          This cocktail of location and history
brainstorm? Like all meetings the            clubs” that line St James’s Street and      means it has a unique range of meeting
venue must be matched to delegate            Pall Mall, London has a wealth of stylish   rooms, from slick designer spaces to
culture and the meeting objective.           clubs in which you hold your brainstorm     grand Victorian rooms. To really inspire
Some, such as a brainstorm about             in splendid isolation from the hubbub of    some creativity, you could do worse
expansion or a corporate                     many meeting venues.                        than hire the Temple, a Grecian-style
re-structure, will also demand                                                           room which is one of two Masonic
                                             Landsdowne Club
complete confidentiality.                                                                Temples in the property. It feels very
                                             The Landsdowne Club is half traditional
Non-confidential meetings, such as           gentlemen’s club, half modern club. The     grand with the marble and original
a staff brainstorm on developing a           18th Century building has only been         masonic chairs.
new product or a new marketing               a club since 1935, and it has always
campaign, might also demand                  admitted women as full members
privacy to facilitate delegates’ focus.
                                             With a boardroom capacity for 30, the
An exclusive-use property could be
                                             Landsdowne is brilliantly located for a
the ideal solution.
Some companies believe that venues
with leisure facilities such as a tennis
court or spa might give delegates
a much-needed change of scene –
and mindset – during break time so
that they return to the brainstorm
completely refreshed and ready to
give new ideas.
Participant profile will affect what
kind of venues provide distractions
and which don’t. Many UK football
clubs, Aston Villa and Leicester
to name two, have a great range
of meeting venues but some
participants might start dreaming
of putting goals into the net rather
than new revenue into the company.
On the other hand, others may think
of how much strategy is involved
in football, which might spur more
strategic thinking.
So what kind of venue might help
your delegates at your next
internal brainstorm?

                      Pennyhill Park Hotel

                                                                                                              FCMUPGRADE.COM           19
Society M

           M25                                           THE NORTH
     The most important requirement for            Broadoaks                                   External venues suit brainstorms
     some brainstorms might very well be           Broadoaks is smack bang in the              extremely well as they remove the
     participation from teams or people            middle of the Lake District, just north     potential arrival of a colleague who
     coming from different locations. This         of Kendal, and quite close to the M6,       “wants a word” and smartphones can
     is where properties near the M25,             making it as convenient for those from      be deposited at the door. Focus and
     especially those near Heathrow                Newcastle and the North East as it is for   attention are easier to achieve.
     and/or Gatwick, can really score.             people based from Lancashire up to the      However, the size and style of different
                                                   Scottish borders.                           companies means each might thrive in
     Pennyhill Park Hotel and Country Club
     If easy access for people coming from         Companies can hire the property –           different styles of conference facility.
     many different places is top of the wish      complete with seven acres of garden,        Across the UK there’s quite a choice. 
     list, Pennyhill Park is about as perfect      four break-out rooms and helipad for
     a location as you could imagine. It’s 50      the CEO, for the exclusive use of up
     minutes from central London by train          to 32 people. If the accessible
     and 20 minutes from Heathrow. There is        location isn’t enough to sell this as a        CONTACT DETAILS
     easy access from the M3, M4 and M25,          destination for those who want to
     with extensive parking and, should you        base their brainstorm in the North,
     need it, a helipad.                           the hotel’s private hire boat could            Andaz London Liverpool Street
                                                   sway the decision.                             40 Liverpool Street
     This property is well-suited to almost
     any meeting, with 20 rooms of all sizes,                                                     London EC2M 7QN

                                                   “
     formats and layout options. It would                                                           0207 961 1234
     suit a small group of 8-10 and, for
                                                                                                  Broadoaks Country House
     those that have the budget, there is the
                                                                                                  Bridge Lane, Troutbeck
     option to book all of it for exclusive use,
     all 124 bedrooms on 120 acres of
                                                   Like all meetings                              Windermere Cumbria LA23 1LA
                                                                                                    015394 45566
     parkland including the golf course,
     tennis courts, etc.
                                                   the venue must be                              The Landsdowne Club
                                                   matched to delegate                            9 Fitzmaurice Place
                                                                                                  London W1J 5JD
                                                   culture and meeting                              0207 629 7200
           MIDLANDS
     Sometimes a brainstorm is necessary at        objective”                                     Macdonald Burlington Hotel
                                                                                                  Burlington Arcade,
     short notice (a launch of a competitive
                                                                                                  126 New Street, Birmingham
     product, say) so the solution might
                                                                                                  B2 4JQ
     be to use a local hotel with the easy
                                                                                                    0344 879 9019
     access, required facilities and a
     conducive environment.                              SCOTLAND                                 Pennyhill Park Hotel
     Macdonald Burlington Hotel                    Society M (Glasgow)                            and Country Club
     Given that it’s only a two-minute             A tech start-up or design team based           London Rd, Bagshot GU19 5EU
     walk from Birmingham New Street               in or near Glasgow would do well to              01276 471774
     station, it’d be difficult to find a hotel    consider the Society M. As befits
                                                                                                  Society M
     in the Midlands which was any more            a sister brand to Citizen M, it has a
                                                                                                  60 Renfrew Street
     accessible. It may not be the most            young and quirky style and its
                                                                                                  Glasgow G2 3BD
     secluded location, but the Macdonald          meeting rooms boast “wipe clean
                                                                                                    0141 295 0045
     Burlington is well kitted out for a           walls”, which make it perfect for
     brainstorm in Birmingham.                     creative brainstorms.

20    Winter 2019
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