Letters inbox
Email your views to BBT editor Paul Revel at
editor@buyingbusinesstravel.com
SO WE CONTINUE to wait for the government’s consultation on aviation together with the future of access to aviation in the south-east. The doubting Thomases in our midst predict it will be released when it can be buried under a big news day – the haul of British gold medals at the Olympics was a missed opportunity! What happened to all the
lateral thinkers we once bred in this country that led to hovercraft, maglev trains and supersonic aircraft? Is the real world so bad that they have all been forced to design Transformers and CGI graphics for computer games? Not a week goes by without some ‘watchdog’ claiming a third runway at Heathrow will claim the extinction of one kind of rodent or another, or that Lord Foster’s airport in the Thames will alter the lives of everyone in Kent? It could do – it could offer much-needed work to the schoolchildren of Gravesend and for 50 miles around, instead of looking towards another decade of little or no-hope. The country needs
government and the question of an integrated transport system can no longer be ignored. Hasn’t anybody got the
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proverbial circulars to take up the cudgel and go with it? Yes, progress brings its problems, but it also brings results – results that will stand our country in good stead for the next 50-to-100 years...if handled properly. We need big projects to get
the country back on its feet, as Roosevelt did in the 1930s in the US, in order to cut down the growing queues of unemployed. An integrated travel plan will provide such a start. What jobs are we creating for the soldiers that we are putting
on the job market – people already trained in skills and discipline? If we choose to ignore the problem much longer the next set of riots will make 2011 look like a party in comparison. Colin Brain Director,
Management Solutions (UK) Ltd
WHILE WORKING ON the programme and delivery for a seminar with Uniglobe business development managers on the topic of compiling a response to an RFP, plus having recently spent a morning proofreading an RFP response for a leading TMC, the recent announcement that Virgin Rail had not been successful in its pitch to renew its West Coast rail franchise highlighted many similarities. Virgin Rail held the contract for
15 years, and TMCs are fortunate if they get a commitment from a corporate client for longer than three years. But this does show the amount of time, effort and money that can go into preparing a document highlighting the service provision that’s been paramount throughout the contractual period, coupled with building on these obvious successes – and in the end it counted for nothing. The proposal that Virgin put forward would stand scrutiny under a microscope. The only consideration at the end of the day was a bean-counter’s view that the promise of a pot of gold at some far off future date carried more weight. Can the TMC community
learn from this? If that lesson is ‘promise the earth and charge little for doing it’, then yes. Or, as with Virgin’s overall
philosophy, continue to provide a service that meets the anticipated requirement of the client, and charge a fee that is commensurate with being reasonable. Allow the
FARES FAIR? T
his month’s news that rail prices will increase 6.2 per cent for season tickets and off-peak intercity journeys prompted a flurry of breathless headlines in the UK’s tabloid press – “the Great Train Robbery”, “Unfare!” and “Off the Rails!” to quote a few – and
a demonstration on the steps of Waterloo stations featuring protesters in the famous ‘Bullingdon Club’ pose. The vast majority of the coverage was dedicated to the plight of angry UK commuters, with commentators suggesting that some season ticket prices could go up by as much as £1,000 between 2011 and 2015. However, this is only one half of the story. Increased fares for off-peak intercity journeys could also pose a challenge for businesses in today’s economic climate. A recent study showed that – excluding year-over-year ticket
price increases – business spend on rail travel increased by 9 per cent between 2010 and 2011. On this evidence, businesses of all sizes are becoming increasingly reliant on train travel as a way of attending customer and partner meetings that are the lifeblood of a company’s growth and success. However from January 2013, businesses that sleepwalk into choosing rail through force of habit will definitely see their travel costs go up. There is help to be had. Automated expense solutions can help companies monitor and analyse employee spend on rail, encourage early booking, facilitate shopping around and encourage consideration of alternative modes of transport where it makes sense – all helping to prevent spiralling costs.
Isabel Montesdeoca
Senior vice president and general manager, Concur EMEA
This letter wins the writer a bottle of champagne
service proposal to develop with the challenges of the world – or walk away and concentrate on the aspects of your business where you can make a profit and the client is happy with the full service provision.
Norman Gage New Generation Consultancy
I VERY MUCH ENJOY the magazine and have learned a lot from the articles. One suggestion, though, would be for you to put all the tips and advice together in some kind of guide to the various subjects you cover, because at the moment they are scattered around the magazine. It doesn’t have to be an idiot’s guide – instead, you could just have a page near the front which summarises all the tips or advice in a short format, along with the page number for the article where the advice is. Another magazine I receive
does a similar thing, which is where I got the idea. Anyway, keep up the good work. Name & address supplied
Editor: good to hear you find BBT enjoyable and useful, and thank you for the suggestions. Easily accessible tips and advice for travel buyers are a priority here, so we’ll certainly look at how your ideas could work.
Have you joined the Buying Business Travel Linkedin group? More than 1,800 travel professionals around the world are using it now to discuss current issues, and share information and knowledge. Visit
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
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