NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, England, December 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Launched in July 2013 after Lizzie Adamson-Brown realised she could be an asset for the SME companies in our area and nationally. "After organising business travel for major companies for over 10 years, like Microsoft, Proctor and Gamble and BT, I thought, why should bigger companies get all the best deals when it comes to air fares and hotel rates?" says Lizzie. "I decided to utilise my skills and experience to bring these deals to the SME's, after all these are the guys who could use our help and support to save them money and to grow their business"
Colin, Lizzie's husband and business partner, states, "we have done a lot of research in this area, with the aim to save SME's on travel spend", he goes on to say "the North East is awash with skills and expertise that can be shared throughout the world, which would help their own businesses grow and in turn the economy of the country as a whole, travel is a must to clinch that lucrative deal"
"We have the Sabre Global Booking System and can therefore consult the widest possible range of airfares to secure the lowest price for your company".
Unmanaged travel spend costs businesses £1.5 billion - The annual UK spend on business travel is around £24 billion, an estimated £10 billion of this is unmanaged.
"With the average 'managed business travel' deal reaping a 10-15% saving, up to £1.5 billion a year in potential savings is being lost as a result of the £10 billion of unmanaged spend", Colin adds.
Studies show it takes the average person more than 2 hours to search and book travel online, and in one survey by the IBM Institute for Business Value, 20% said it took them more than five hours. "It's come to a point that SME's have too much information to be confident that they have the ability to book the lowest fare."
"If an employee needs to take a trip, the common practice is to head online and search for the best flight and hotel. The general consensus being, it's cheaper than having a dedicated travel manager. However, by booking independently, SMEs are almost certainly wasting time and in turn, money"
"Let's assume, for example, you are travelling to New York; you earn £60,000 a year and then spend a morning searching the internet to book that trip. That's just cost you half a day or £128 in lost time and billing. Now let's say there are 20 travellers in your company making 20 trips a year, all booking independently. That's the equivalent of over £51,000 of billable hours wasted. Scary isn't it?"
"We had a client say we "we're a dream come true". How amazing is that?" says Lizzie.
"On top of these services, our clients get up to date FCO advice, 24/7 support, health and safety tips and even an App for your smartphone, to make sure they have a hassle free and safe trip" adds Colin.
As mentioned in a previous Bdaily article Lizzie is the Newcastle Upon Tyne Ambassador for a global company called Maiden-Voyage.com who are a female traveller site that anyone can join for free, to ensure that they stay safe in unfamiliar or even volatile destinations, throughout the world.
Executive Travel Consultants work closely with the UKTI, who have many North East SME companies under their wing, are bringing their skills to the ever emerging markets, such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).
If you would like to chat to Lizzie or Colin about what services they can help you with, they are offering a free one hour consultation.
You can contact them at: http://www.executivetravelconsultants.co.uk or 0191-638-0008
