Redfern Travel is the talk of the town after its success in winning Lot 2 (domestic) of the recent central government travel management tender. Everyone in the sector is keen to see how the Bradford-based travel management company will fare with the exciting but challenging process of implementing the contract.

At Public Sector Travel, we are privileged to have been granted access to Redfern Travel managing director Ian Wotton (pictured) to find out what the company has planned. We have asked Wotton a number of incisive questions about its success in winning the tender and its strategy. Our in-depth interview is divided into two parts: the first part looks at the company’s background, its success in the tender and its plans for growth while the second – appearing next week – looks at booking tools, supplier relationships and business models.

PST: For those of our readers that are not familiar with Redfern Travel, can you tell us something about the business?

Based in Bradford since its inception, Redfern Travel Ltd has a history stretching back to 1937 but the business today is very different from the traditional travel agency that operated until its change of ownership in 1999 when it became a subsidiary of the AiT Travel Group.

Under the new management and against the backdrop of the removal of airline commission payments, the focus of the business was changed to move away from a traditional “hands-on” agency reliant on supplier commissions to become one of the first proper travel management companies, operating “open-book” practices and clearly representing the corporate customer in what, until then, often appeared a blurred relationship between supplier, agent and customer.

• We moved to a business model whereby all commissions were refunded to customers with our earnings being derived from transaction fees.
• We identified the future of the business as one based around incredibly efficient and automated internal systems coupled to the increasing use of the internet at that time – the first generation of online booking tools were just entering the market.
• We realised that online bookings would become an increasingly important distribution channel and committed to utilising these technologies to the maximum, not just the customer facing element but internally within our organisation to drive out unnecessary administration costs.

It sounds simple, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort – what we wanted from the available technology just was not there with those first and second generation booking tools and we also had to work really hard with our key technology suppliers to improve mid- and back-office systems to achieve the automation levels we wanted.

After a challenging five years, our change in direction started to pay real results as our customer base began to grow strongly, but more importantly our number of transactions began to race ahead, with 2004 and 2005 proving to be the cusp, during which our efficiencies manifested themselves in rapidly reducing transaction costs which we were able to pass on to further grow our customer base.

In 2006, Government Procurement Service (formerly Buying Solutions) administered the procurement of the first Government Travel Framework and we were able to submit a very competitive bid, successfully winning a place on the Framework and we have subsequently maintained that success, winning a place on its “One Stop Shop” Framework in 2009, the re-let of the first Travel Framework in 2010 and most recently Lot 2 of the Central Government Travel Tender.

Throughout this period, we have listened very closely to our customers and we are very quick to integrate their feedback into our upgrade paths – a tribute to our key technology partners include Micros, Evolvi, Conferma and Sabre who have been brilliantly flexible in accommodating our customers’ needs.

Our business model is flexible and adaptable, constantly under review in light of customer feedback and it would appear that we are delivering what the customers want with both public sector customers and with our rapidly increasing private sector customers.

We remain totally committed to driving out any unnecessary costs in the supply side of travel, where we believe there is too much emphasis on legacy business models and accounting and we wholeheartedly embrace any new ideas or systems which can improve our customers’ experience, improve internal efficiencies (ours and our customers) and deliver cheaper transaction fees.

PST: There are many fine travel management companies in the UK. Why do you think you won this highly prized, hotly contended tender?

Firstly, we entered the bid confident that we would deliver a proposal which presents a very different and innovative way of supplying travel booking services in a flexible and competitive way.

Secondly, our success on the previous Government Procurement Service travel frameworks, allied to the scalability of our technological solutions meant we already held service contracts with some central government departments of a scale which enabled us to satisfy emphatically the due diligence requirements of the procurement process.

Thirdly, since 2006, our online booking tool and internal technologies have been continually developed and improved in light of customer feedback. We were able to demonstrate capability in a live environment, showing how we continue to deliver method, automation and value in the provision of our services. not just describe it. I guess the capability and flexibility of our offering was there for all to see.

Finally, a key element of the tender process was to facilitate cost savings for central government. Our efficiencies mean we can maintain a very high service standard yet still provide a very low cost per transaction which in turn ensures cost savings, rate savings and efficiency savings for our customers.

Therefore in summary we are providing:

• a high level of practical experience in working with government departments;
• a service and product based on advanced technology offering flexibility and practical solutions, based on customer requirements;
• a significantly different model for travel booking services;
• a significantly lower cost base, with costs savings passed on directly to our customers.

PST: The Government is keen not to disadvantage British businesses in tender in order to stimulate job creation. How many new positions do you foresee creating at Redfern to manage the requirements of this award and will you need to grow your office space?

A key element of the tender is to offer value for money to customers. This is a primary aim for Redfern, which is assisted by our advanced technology systems. Another important requirement of Government, to assist in efficiencies and cost savings means that there is a focus on a significant move to online services. Our service provision is a significantly different model and our experience of working with central government will assist us to finalise our staffing requirements, in accordance with our contractual obligations.

No, we will not need to grow our office space to service this award. We occupy a lovely old building in Bradford where we have more than enough space to accommodate everyone required and indeed the many more we will need over the forthcoming years as more wider public sector and private sector customers continue to find their way to us.

PST: Do you expect to take on staff from other travel management companies who are already working for the government departments covered by this lot?

Implementation and transitioning plans for each of the government departments with whom we are not already trading were fully detailed in our tender. The consultation process with those providers has already begun, to ensure that everyone becomes clear as to the process which is being followed.

How excited are your team to have won this prestigious contract?

Very excited of course!

The whole team at Redfern recognise this as a massive recognition of the work that started way back in 2000 and 2001.

We have increased in size by over five times since 2006, going live customer by customer, many with over 100,000 transactions per annum. By mandate, this contract brings about another ten customers of similar size on a staggered programme extending out until summer 2012 and we are really looking forward to extending our low fees and outstanding service to them.

The second part of this feature will be published next week.

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