PETER QUINN,UK CATEGORY MANAGER FOR SOPRA STERIA AND MEMBER OF THE JUDGING PANEL FOR THE BUSINESS TRAVEL AWARDS 2015, TALKS TO BOB PAPWORTH
I have worked in the field for 20 years – travel is a hugely dynamic sector, and there’s always something new to learn
How would you describe your current role? I’m responsible for the procurement of travel, recruitment suppliers, property and facilities services, HR services, the company car fleet and mobile phones. My remit is primarily the UK, but I work closely with our European colleagues to ensure we have the most cost-effective and efficient routes to purchase for the group as a whole. We have a highly mobile workforce, meaning that majority of the travel I look after is within the UK. Travel abroad tends to be within Europe or to our delivery centres in India, and is normally low-cost/economy.
How do you communicate with your travellers about policy and compliance? In the main, our travellers understand what we do and why we do it, so compli- ance isn’t a big issue for us. Our travel policies are clearly explained on our intranet and embedded as rules in our expense system, which is also used for reservations as well as expenses. We use a variety of communication tools – Yammer, intranet, email and good old-fashioned pick-up-the-phone – to speak to our travellers. We also have an online news magazine called Connected that can be used to reinforce policy changes. We try to make it easy for our travellers to ‘do the right thing’ – for example, by offering a reservation service that not only shows all the hotels with special negotiated tariffs, but also has information about proximity to the office, plus traveller reviews.
Is traveller comfort/wellbeing in danger of being eroded in the name of savings? It depends on how it is managed. All com- panies have a duty-of-care to make sure that employees travel comfortably, and without
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risk to their health; however, we have to manage our costs appropriately, as does every organisation. As part of our commu- nication we do ask our employees if they really need to travel. Wherever possible we encourage the use of conference calls and videoconferencing, plus the collaboration tools available on everyone’s computers.
To what extent do ‘green’ issues influence your travel programme As an organisation we have a very active sustainability programme, and are certified carbon neutral for all our business travel. This also manifests itself in the selection of vehicles available through our company car scheme, for example. I believe employers should do all they can to set a good example.
How did you get involved in travel buying? I have worked in the wider procurement field for 20 years now. I became more involved in travel buying three years ago and have enjoyed it ever since. Travel is a hugely dynamic sector, and there’s always something new to learn.
What do you like most – and least – about your job?
I like dealing with people, and embracing technology and change. I am an enthusiastic person and perhaps can be a little impatient in wanting to get things done – which may not be a bad thing. We are currently enhancing our travel programme and have just undertaken a major project to bring all aspects of travel under a consistent banner, with a clearer mission. We have reviewed the services we use in order to ensure that they are as user-centric as possible, and managed as cost-effectively as pos- sible. We’ve been streamlining our online services to make them quicker and more intuitive to use for making travel bookings.
The part I enjoy least is when you have completed an RFP [request for proposal] and agreed new rates with a hotel, and it then seems to take an age for that rate to be available via the HBA [hotel booking agent]. It feels we are letting our travellers down. Speaking to other buyers, they have similar issues, and this is something the travel management companies, hotels and HBAs need to resolve.
Tell us about your experience as one of the judges for the Business Travel Awards 2015 I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the proposals. The quality of responses varied depending on the award, though one comment I would make is that people really should read the questions carefully before answering. The awards night itself was a great occasion – glitzy and well- structured – and it was a privilege to meet and network with so many industry people.
The working week has come to an end – how do you relax? I am, for my sins, a season ticket holder for Watford FC, so I’m hoping and praying that we will be playing Premiership football someday. I also play the classical guitar, and love travelling, socialising and visiting museums.
Sopra Steria is a French-based IT company, headquartered in Annecy- le-Vieux. Services include consulting, systems integration and software development. It has over 35,000 employees in more than 20 countries, with in excess of 5,000 in the UK.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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