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“We broke the mould in the higher education sector,” she says. “We challenged the process for all the right reasons.” Not one to do anything by halves, Harrison


extricated herself from her full-time role as procurement manager, so the project would have her full attention. The fact that she turned round what was a huge, unwieldy manual travel process, keeping staff on side, and introducing them to the world of online, is testament to her ability, tenacity and obvious expertise. Harrison is something of a minor celeb in higher education circles, having been the first to deliver such a solution. Others are looking to follow her lead. Today, a full year after implementation, she can look back on a job well done. So much so in fact that she has been recognised for her efforts and achievements. Last summer the team was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2011 in the category, Outstanding Procurement Team. The team didn’t win but to have made it to the top five was recognition enough. Looking back, Harrison says she understood


that she was instigating a major step change, “but the advantages far outweighed the implementation pain,” she says with characteristic pragmatism. Comfortable in the disciplines of pro-


curement, she went about the project with military precision. First up was a tender process, finding American Express to spearhead the project. Concur were then appointed as the travel booking tool and expense tool provider, and AirPlus as the new lodge and corporate card supplier. During the project Harrison bid for and


was awarded a full grant of £60,000 towards the project from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), for e-procurement development. The original plan was for a phased approach,


“We broke the mould in the higher education sector. We challenged the process for all the right reasons”


but Harrison re-considered this. She explains, “The biggest win for the end user was through the card programme and expenses together with the travel elements, so I decided on the 'Big Bang' approach of a suite of services as that would be better received.” The travel policy remained untouched in


the initial phase; it was the processes that were being overhauled, with duplicating steps being stripped out as technology streamlined it all. The Faculty of Engineering, which had


already consolidated the administration of travel, volunteered to be the pilot scheme


candidate. Harrison had to get all the key stakeholders to take ownership of the project, from the bookers and expenses personnel to the senior academics and the Vice-Chancellor. There was resistance. Some said they could


buy travel cheaper on the internet, others said they couldn’t attend training sessions. Harrison recalls that it was “quite difficult”


and acknowledges that resistance to change will never go away. Robust responses


“It’s just the beginning now. The world’s


our oyster. We can give the broad


recommendations and best practice”


communicated the advantages: that the new online booking system would take less time and remove all red tape, while also fulfilling the university’s duty of care and green issues. Online adoption rose


to 68 per cent in nine months and it now


stands, one year on, in the mid 70s. The roll-out was completed in April 2011


and a year on from that Harrison is at another pivotal moment in the project. “It’s an exciting time now as we have the data to make powerful decisions,” she says. She’ll now move on to adjusting policy, be it


relaxing or tightening, with guidance such as premium economy on flights over six hours, setting a rate ceiling for hotels and a travel class for rail. She also plans to tackle overseas car hire and, crucially, start to leverage supplier relationships. “It’s the beginning now,” she says. “The


world’s our oyster. We can give the broad recommendations and best practice.” She’ll soon start to report on time savings


with expenses, in true procurement style against the Efficiency Measurement Model that tracks the move from manual to electronic process. Harrison’s goal is to slash ten per cent off


the bottom line by 2014, but not just in bottom line savings but also in soft benefits such as time savings accrued and potentially headcount too. Last month Harrison returned to her day


job and has employed a day-to-day travel and expenses manager. Another project is looming, however, that of temporary agency workers, which is more a change manage- ment project led by HR. One gets the distinct feeling that it won’t


carry quite the gravitas of the travel and expenses Big Bang. “I think travel is either in your blood or it isn’t,” she says. She looks back at the project with fondness.


“It’s been my project from the beginning and to have got it to this well-managed state is something,” but with the knowledge that she wouldn’t have done anything differently. The mark of a true professional.


THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE 25


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