Andy Hegley, UK General Manager Corporate Traveller (right) and Steve Norris, Managing Director EMEA, Flight Centre Travel Group.
Established in the UK in 2005, FCBT was set up to meet the increasing demand from customers of Flight Centre’s leisure agencies for personal local business travel services.
Corporate Traveller UK, specialists in managing travel for SMEs, is poised to grow market share and expand its offering after joining forces with fellow SME division, Flight Centre Business Travel UK.
Parent company, Flight Centre Travel Group, has taken the decision to merge Flight Centre Business Travel (FCBT) with Corporate Traveller in order to maximise investment in new technology, services and customer experience specifically for the SME business travel sector.
Established in the UK in 2005, FCBT was set up to meet the increasing demand from customers of Flight Centre’s leisure agencies for personal local business travel services. In the UK, FCBT has around 2000 SME customers ranging from individual business owners to larger companies who typically spend £50K to £1M per annum on corporate travel.
Corporate Traveller launched in the UK in 1999 and has since grown to become the UK’s largest travel management company providing dedicated business travel services to 2,500 SME customers with an annual business travel spend of £50K to £4M. Corporate Traveller has 240 staff at 15 locations nationwide.
FCBT’s customers will transition to Corporate Traveller together with FCBT’s 135 employees in operations, account management and sales. FCBT staff will continue to work personally with their respective customers within Corporate Traveller’s business to ensure seamless transition of servicing. Flight Centre Travel Group’s leisure business, including its high street stores and specialist teams, is unaffected by this change and remains a key brand within the FCTG group.
“Corporate Traveller and Flight Centre Business Travel have evolved as separate business divisions within Flight Centre Travel Group over the last 15 to 20 years. Both brands had grown to become extremely successful in their own right, providing personal service from dedicated consultants and technology solutions specifically suited to their respective SME customers,” said Steve Norris, Managing Director EMEA, Flight Centre Travel Group.
“However there were also many synergies. It therefore made business sense to bring these two brands together so that we can focus on investing in our overall SME offering collectively to enrich the customer experience, as well as retain and grow market share in the post-Covid era,” said Norris.
Andy Hegley, UK General Manager Corporate Traveller added: “The integration of FCBT with Corporate Traveller, will give us greater opportunities to be the market-leading travel management specialist for the SME sector. This new direction also means that former FCBT customers will have access to innovative new technology that is being developed by Corporate Traveller, but they will still receive the same personal service from their usual FCBT travel expert.”
FCBT also merged with Corporate Traveller in Canada and South Africa. Customers handled by FCBT in Ireland will be managed by Flight Centre’s global travel management company, FCM in Dublin. FCBT continues to operate in Australia and New Zealand.
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