TRAVEL BUYER Q&A Martin Stevens
Bob Papworth quizzes the procurement manager travel and corporate cards at RELX
Outline the scale and scope of RELX Group’s corporate travel. We have around 70,000 air trips annually. About 65 per cent of journeys are for staff in the US, 32 per cent in Europe and the remainder in other countries. This encompasses intra-country, intra-conti- nental and intercontinental travel.
What are the basics of your travel policy? How do you communicate it? We tailor our travel policies depending on the division within RELX, as they all have subtle differences and needs. We speak with the business heads to determine the policy for each division, as what is good for one division may not be good for another. It can get complex maintain- ing different policies, but we utilise the online booking tools to ensure they are interpreted correctly. I see policies as evolving documents that
should be reviewed when necessary. New suppliers in the market can bring challeng- es and opportunities. What Norwegian Airlines is doing is fascinating; it is really disrupting the market. The product is good, the airports it has targeted are excellent and the pricing competitive. We have procedures in place to review bookings and ensure they make sense. It’s not always black and white; human intervention is occasionally required.
Do your travellers understand the value of a travel policy? Do you welcome traveller feedback and does it influence your travel programme? Increasingly, as we better communicate and liaise with the businesses, colleagues are definitely seeing the value a travel depart- ment can add. Feedback is key – without it we cannot improve. To assume I know every airline product or hotel would be foolish; very occasionally we get it wrong.
Is ‘price versus productivity’ an issue? The cheapest travel options are not always the most conducive to productive use of time. Productivity is key. I am not going to ask someone who lives by Gatwick to go to Birmingham to catch a cheaper flight. However, if a connection can save
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ensure they have safely reached their des- tination. Recent activities have increased staff participation in this programme. We collect travel data provided by our
TMCs; we use the Radiative Forcing (RF) emissions factors provided by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs for calculating business travel emissions. This takes account of the full environmental impact of air travel, such as water vapour, contrails, nitrogen and oxide emissions, which helps keep us informed.
In your current role, what are your greatest achievements and what have been the greatest challenges? Standardising a corporate card programme globally was one achievement. This has helped our visibility of expenditure and enabled us to make more informed deci- sions, and also share information with sup- pliers, which is critical when negotiating. Two of the greatest challenges for me
were getting to understand the business- es and managing a team remotely. As a
“The cheapest travel options are not always the most conducive to productive use of time”
thousands of pounds, we will highlight it within the travel options. Certain staff really appreciate this approach.
How has mobile technology changed RELX Group’s practices? What do you see as ‘the next big thing’? Surprisingly, in mature markets we have not seen that much change. However, with recent terrorist incidents, being able to touch a button on a mobile device is an easy and convenient way for employees to let us know they are safe and saves my team hours of manual checking. I think facial recognition will be the next big thing.
Does ‘travel avoidance’ play a part in RELX Group’s travel programme? Is there an effective substitute for face-to-face meetings? Understanding where staff are located and who needs to attend a meeting is more valuable than a blanket rule. Often when negotiating you need to meet in person.
To what extent does duty-of-care – for people and the planet – influence your travel programme? It has a considerable influence. We are now able to capture employees’ locations, prior, during and after they have travelled to
consequence I have developed relation- ships with the treasury department, em- ployee taxation, risk and insurance – not typical departments you would expect a travel manager to be engaged with. The amount of data we receive can be
a challenge. You need to use it to bring benefit to the business and develop the appropriate key performance indicators. Fortunately, I have colleagues specialis- ing in big data and analytics who help decipher this into something meaningful that we can act upon.
How do you unwind after work? A beer on a Friday night is something to look forward to on the way home. Then it’s time with the family and Stamford Bridge if Chelsea are at home.
RELX GROUP is a global provider of information and analytics focusing on the scientific, legal, technical and medical, risk and business analytics, and exhibitions industries. RELX operates in more than 180 countries and employs around 30,000 people, with almost 50 per cent located in North America.
BBT January/February 2018 39
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