➔ The latter claims to be the only


consultancy to offer a guarantee of a minimum five times return on their investment – and it hasn’t failed in the two years it’s been in place. “There must be a tangible outcome so a guarantee to take complexity out or make savings stands up well in the market, and we’ve seen impressive growth,” says HRG's Paul Dear. Exactly what services a TMC should include as a standard part of its package – and what should be handed over to a consultancy – is a grey area. Some buyers in the industry claim they don't get the treatment they once did, while independent consultants often claim that a TMC will always have its own interests at heart when advising on areas such as supplier deals. “There will always be a question mark on whether their advice for air, hotel and third party tools is partly driven by revenues their agency derives in terms of sales and


marketing agreement income from these suppliers,” says Mark O’Brien. “Truly independent consultants are 100 per cent client facing and derive no revenues from third party suppliers.” The likes of BCD’s Advito division and


HRG Consulting think differently, of course, while CWT Solutions Group’s senior director EMEA, Vincent Lebunetel, categorically denies such divisions might act in the interest of their parent TMC. “It’s absolutely untrue,” he says. “We have


no reason to be biased in our recommen- dations. We are an independent profit centre within CWT. Clients make their own judge- ments as to whether we are biased or not, but clearly we would not have survived without being totally independent.” Lebunetel goes on to say that many


clients – a third of whom are not customers of the parent TMC – are attracted by CWT’s reputation in the industry and the


a selection of business travel consultants


3SIXTY Global Key personnel: Lesley Turvey, Chris Reynolds Number of staff: Seven Profile: "A well established and respected consultancy whose partners have worked for both suppliers and corporate organisations. Our independence, experience and knowledge of the supply market combined with cutting edge tools are the foundation blocks of our company." Specialist areas: Process improvement, cost reduction initiatives, supplier management and development, technology, RFPs, hotel and air programmes, expense management solutions, ground transportation, sustainability and corporate responsibility experts. Contact: www.3sixty-global.com


advITo Key personnel: Jeroen Hurkmans, vice president EMEA/APAC; Bob Brindley, vice president business solutions; Mark Williams, vice president business solutions Number of staff: 50 full-time members of staff in locations across the globe Profile: "Advito provides travel management advisory, procurement and outsourcing services that guide clients through a complex travel environment. Created in 2006, Advito established itself as independent operating unit of BCD Travel, the world's third-largest travel management company. As the Institute of Travel & Meeting's official ITM Resources partner, Advito delivers a series of templates and resources aimed primarily at travel buyers based in the UK who are looking for standard templates across areas such as travel policy, request for proposals and other travel management functions." Specialist areas: Strategy and structure, policy and governance, sourcing, contract and performance management, process automation and integration, travel risk management, meetings management and outsourcing. Contact: www.advito.com


bouda Key personnel: Clare Murphy, Judith Gledhill Number of staff: Four Profile: "Bouda was established in 2009 in response to a market need for procurement specialism within corporate travel. Together, Clare and Judith have over 40 years of experience managing travel programmes for corporations in a multitude of industries. Clare has specialised in the supply of strategic travel programmes. Her experience includes sourcing solutions, technology integration and programme management. Judith has managed complex travel programmes for multinational corporations and joined Bouda from E.on where she delivered savings of £5million over four years." Specialist areas: Travel programme evaluation, travel service provider sourcing, commercial negotiation, implementation, technology selection, interim/outsourced travel manager, online adoption, reinvigoration programmes, duty of care policy, airline, hotel, car and ground RFPs, benchmarking. Contact: www.bouda.co.uk


CorporaTe Travel parTnerS lImITed (The CTp) Key Personnel: Robert Daykin, director and managing consultant; Richard Plummer, associate consultant; Chris Plummer, associate consultant. Number of Staff: Three Profile: "Founded originally in 2000 as travelConsult, The CTP is a specialist consultancy, interim management and outsourced travel management practice focused totally on the travel and expense category. Completely independent of the supply chain, The CTP provides totally unbiased information and advice that is free from any conflict of interest. A significant return on investment is always delivered." Specialist areas: The CTP covers the entire spectrum of the T&E category. In 2012 The CTP joined forces with Corporate Travel Buyer Resources in the USA to offer a global service. In conjunction with CTBR, The CTP now offers a web-based RFP/ ITT process for TMC bids. Contact: www.thectp.co.uk


CWT SoluTIonS Group Key personnel: Nick Vournakis, VP CWT Solutions Group Worldwide; Vincent Lebunetel, senior director, CWT Solutions Group EMEA; Jon Miller, director, CWT Solutions Group UK. Number of staff: Over 100 consultants worldwide, 15 in the UK. Profile: "CWT Solutions Group is the global consulting arm of CWT, offering a wide range of sourcing and travel spend optimisation services to customers of all sizes and industry types and across all TMCs. Created in 1998, CWT Solutions Group is today composed of over 100 consultants worldwide. It has a local footprint in three regions and 14 countries around the world. It handles over 250 projects per year through practice areas dedicated to helping clients managing and driving savings on airline, hotel and ground transportation programmes, payment and expense management systems, policy and compliance improvements and travel management governance patterns." Specialist areas: Benchmarking, supplier negotiations, ground transportation, payment and expense management, policy and compliance. Contact: www.carlsonwagonlit.com


denovo manaGemenT Key personnel: Dennis Bailey Number of staff: One-man band Profile: "After working for 15 years managing corporate travel for two household names in global manufacturing, Denovo Management was set up in 2007 to offer potential clients business travel consultancy and interim management. Assignments have been completed for companies of various sizes covering the retail, professional services, IT, fashion and consultancy sectors, some as small consultancy projects, some as an interim project managing the end-to-end programme on a global basis." Specialist areas: Sourcing, programme optimisation, travel policy, benchmarking, training. Contact: www.denovomanagement.co.uk (currently under construction)


benchmarking data it has at its fingertips. “We have unparalleled benchmarking ability. Independent consultants are not in a position to offer the data analytics that we can,” he says, citing some 300 travel policies, 300,000 client hotel rates and 1,500 client air fares that it can reference. The consultancy manages an impressive 91,000 RFPs annually and sources $7billion of travel spend a year, but does not carry out TMC tenders, for obvious reasons. Paul Dear, meanwhile, says that over 40


per cent of HRG Consulting’s client base do not use HRG as their TMC, and that strict non-disclosure agreements ensure impartiality at all times. Ultimately, all consultants large and small, independent and those linked to travel management companies, all promise to deliver savings to the bottom line and tidy up processes, and who can afford not to do that right now?


72 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE


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