MEET THE BUYER ALEXANDRA PRICE
meet Alexandra Price NYK Group Europe
Alexandra Price is both travel department team leader and PA to the managing director of NYK Group Europe’s liner and corporate division. Based in London, she has overseen signifi cant change to the
group’s travel programme and policy in recent years
Q Tell us a little about your company’s
line of business. A. NYK Group Europe Ltd is a Japanese shipping company, and I've worked here for five years.
Q What proportion of your time is spent
arranging business travel? A. On average about 30 per cent, but that varies wildly depending on what’s happening in the business.
Q And what do your other daily
responsibilities include? A. My main role is personal assistant to the managing director of the Liner & Corporate Division which means doing anything and
Our staff sometimes travel to dangerous places so it’s paramount they do things the way we ask them to
everything to ensure he can hit the ground running, no matter what is happening. More recently I have become the Travel Department Team Leader which involves managing supplier contracts, dealing with customer service issues, cost monitoring and reporting to the board. This also involves being a ‘super user’ for our tailor- made online portal and supporting the other bookers in using the tool. And finally, I am a travel booker for the two largest divisions in the company.
Q How many staff are there at your office, and how many travel on business? A. There are about 220 people based in our London office and approximately 80 in Southampton and 40 in Liverpool. Around 60 per cent travel on a regular basis.
PROFILE Q Give us a brief overview of your
Having studied Japanese and Business at Durham University, the majority of Alexandra’s career has been spent working for Japanese companies. Her fi rst role was PA to the Senior Investment Advisor at JETRO London, a Japanese government agency, before she moved to Itochu Europe as PA to the CEO. Alexandra later worked for Communicaid, a culture and communications consultancy, before joining NYK in 2010.
company’s business travel patterns. A. As the European headquarters for a Japanese company, most of our travel is short-haul within the UK and Europe. But really, our travellers go everywhere. Some divisions travel a lot in West Africa, others
28 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
in the Middle East. There is also a lot of movement around North and South America. And of course Japan!
Q Do you work with a travel management company? A. Three years ago we carried out a complete overhaul of our travel business. We had been working with over 12 different suppliers for nearly 25 years without review! I was brought in to help manage the process due to my skills and previous experience. We selected one TMC out of seven that tendered for the business. At that point we created the Travel Department, of which I took ownership, and created a Travel Booker Manual for all new and existing bookers. We book everything through our TMC which helps us monitor costs, keep track of our staff and affords us higher bargaining power when renegotiating corporate rates.
Q Do you have a comprehensive travel policy in place? How effective is it? A. Yes, and I update it regularly. We rely on our bookers to enforce it, but generally the rules are respected. Our staff sometimes travel to dangerous places so it’s paramount they do things the way we ask. We take our duty of care very seriously.
Q What are the biggest challenges you
face when it comes to arranging travel? A. Most our travellers are cost conscious but also want to be comfortable. This can be a difficult balance to achieve! The shipping industry is unpredictable at times so trips are often last minute. It can be very challenging ensuring everything is in place when you only have a few hours to book it!
Q What qualities do you think are
required to make a good travel manager? A. Getting to know your travellers and learning their routes and preferences. If you can pre-empt their questions you can get everything done much more quickly. And conscientiousness. Nothing is more incon- venient for a traveller than a missed step!
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