Travel general manager Adam White has been responsible for creating changes to the company’s operations in the three years since he joined the organisation, after spending 17 years learning all sides of the travel business at Thomas Cook.
When Going Places was launched six years ago, the business travel operation was run alongside the leisure division, so there was a business travel outlet in a Going Places’ high-street location.
White was brought in to form a stand-alone business travel division.
Now Going Places Business Travel operates from 24 offices around the UK and White is in charge of over 100 staff and a company which is increasingly asked to bid for accounts alongside established business travel agencies.
He said:”Travel is becoming increasingly specialised and we needed to separate the two entities so we could have specialised people on the leisure side and the business travel side.
“It is great news from the customer’s stand point. There is clarity of service delivery through dedicated staff and centres.”
After consolidating offices, White then concentrated on improving the agency’s technology.
He replaced the global distribution systems supplied by Worldspan, used in all Going Places branches on the mainland, in favour of rival Galileo, which was used in its Northern Ireland branches and which White said is more suited to booking business travel.
He said:”We wanted to have the same systems across the board.”
Over the last 12 months he has embarked on a huge process to install Galileo’s latest Focal Point business travel booking system and automated ticketing facilities in each office. A brand new back-office system has also been installed.
Next, a dedicated training centre was built in Ealing, West London to train every member of staff on every aspect of the new technology.
“We went through a very lengthy and detailed process, but from the staff point of view there is absolute dedication to what we are doing in terms of training and people development,” said White.
White is one of the younger members of the Guild of Business Travel Agents and has just been voted on to the association’s executive.
The GBTA has been criticised in the past for being staid and refusing to move with the times, but White believes it has a valuable part to play.
“The organisation is crucial. It represents 85% of business travel transacted in the UK.As such it provides a sensible point of contact for airlines and other suppliers operating in the corporate market to discuss their plans. The GBTAis changing. It recognises that the world of business travel is moving on. A lot of new people are taking jobs with the GBTAand there is a continuing freshness of ideas.”
EVERYONE has heard of Going Places leisure travel but it is fair to say its business travel division is less well known, at least on the UK mainland.
It is a different story in Northern Ireland, however, where the company is the destination’s largest business travel agent.
Going Places’ Business Travel general manager Adam White has been responsible for creating changes to the company’s operations in the three years since he joined the organisation, after spending 17 years learning all sides of the travel business at Thomas Cook.
When Going Places was launched six years ago, the business travel operation was run alongside the leisure division, so there was a business travel outlet in a Going Places’ high-street location.
White was brought in to form a stand-alone business travel division.
Now Going Places Business Travel operates from 24 offices around the UK and White is in charge of over 100 staff and a company which is increasingly asked to bid for accounts alongside established business travel agencies.
He said:”Travel is becoming increasingly specialised and we needed to separate the two entities so we could have specialised people on the leisure side and the business travel side.
“It is great news from the customer’s stand point. There is clarity of service delivery through dedicated staff and centres.”
After consolidating offices, White then concentrated on improving the agency’s technology.
He replaced the global distribution systems supplied by Worldspan, used in all Going Places branches on the mainland, in favour of rival Galileo, which was used in its Northern Ireland branches and which White said is more suited to booking business travel.
He said:”We wanted to have the same systems across the board.”
Over the last 12 months he has embarked on a huge process to install Galileo’s latest Focal Point business travel booking system and automated ticketing facilities in each office. A brand new back-office system has also been installed.
Next, a dedicated training centre was built in Ealing, West London to train every member of staff on every aspect of the new technology.
“We went through a very lengthy and detailed process, but from the staff point of view there is absolute dedication to what we are doing in terms of training and people development,” said White.
White is one of the younger members of the Guild of Business Travel Agents and has just been voted on to the association’s executive.
The GBTA has been criticised in the past for being staid and refusing to move with the times, but White believes it has a valuable part to play.
“The organisation is crucial. It represents 85% of business travel transacted in the UK.As such it provides a sensible point of contact for airlines and other suppliers operating in the corporate market to discuss their plans. The GBTAis changing. It recognises that the world of business travel is moving on. A lot of new people are taking jobs with the GBTAand there is a continuing freshness of ideas.”
Going Places Business travel
Head office: Woking.
Owned by: Airtours.
Number of locations: 24 UKoffices.
Number of staff: 100.
Key personnel: general manager Adam White; national operationsmanager Ian Calder.
Contact details: tel:870 169 1111.