THE HIGH STREET
DOES ANY SME USE A HIGH STREET AGENT TO BOOK BUSINESS TRAVEL? If so, they are few and far between. Although not ‘dead’, the high street agent is certainly ailing. A 2015 report by PWC and the Local Data Company revealed that high street travel agents were closing at the rate of one a week. This number includes leisure agents but individual business people going to a high street agent to book their business travel are perhaps even rarer. Paul Allan, of Ian Allan Travel, says: “The last time I remember that happening was when a guy walked into the shop in a white suit and stetson, claiming to be the manager of a ‘very’ famous US country singer recording at Shepperton Studios. He demanded £50,000 of credit for the two weeks his recording artist was in the country. I politely told him where he could shove his hat! Generally speaking, anyone who did just turn up in the shop looking to open an account with us would be imme- diately referred to the sales department.”
Commuter Club Founder Petko Plachkov talks about being the ‘Netflix of commuting’ and how the start-up travels
What is Commuter Club? My friend Imran
Gulamhuseinwala and I founded Commuter Club (
commuterclub.co.uk) in 2014. We were both living in London and, given the high cost of commuting there, had been looking for ways to lower our travel expenses. We realised that annual season tickets could provide savings of over £200 a year compared to using pay-as-you-go, or weekly and monthly travel cards, but the drawback was the big upfront commitment. We set about changing the system by allowing commuters to pay for their commute via direct debit. We are able to deliver the savings of annual season tickets in a much more appealing format, and one that can be stopped
54 BBT JULY/AUGUST 2016
emails and catch up on ‘thinking work’.
How do you book your travel? I prefer to book work travel myself, so I know what I am doing and can access the best deals. I often use sites like
Thetrainline.com.
Petko Plachkov
at any time. Think of us as the Netflix for commuting. We also make it easy for companies to offer their staff season tickets as an employee benefit. We launched nationally in 2015 and also launched our corporate offering in early 2016. We expect to process over £20 million in tickets this year.
What travel do you do on business?
I primarily travel in London but also across the UK. While I always try to use the Tube, sometimes Uber is just great for trips around town as it means you can do calls and stay productive. I use the train a lot – it’s the best time to get on top of
Do you use ‘sharing economy’ sites?
Sites like Airbnb and Uber have truly revolutionised the way we travel and not only do we regularly use them, but as a business we’re inspired by how they innovate and operate. My ambition one day is for Commuter Club to work with the likes of Uber, so that we can offer our commuters a complete end- to-end travel solution.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
Trailfinders, which has dedicated first
and business class centres in all of its travel centres, says it doesn’t have walk-in enquiries any more. The company’s marketing director,
Nikki Davies, says: “Most of the companies we work with have been Trailfind- ers’ clients for many years and, therefore, they have specific points of contact within our business class team, so generally they email requests and these are usually followed up by phone and email.”
The pros
• Face-to-face interaction with consultant.
• Supporting local businesses. • Possible tea and biscuits.
The cons
• No way to comparison shop. • If it’s raining, you get wet. • Screaming family at next desk.
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