The
Business Travel Association has made the switch to being a virtual organisation, a move that CEO Clive Wratten says will make it “leaner
and stronger”.
The
organisation yesterday moved out of its offices at Butler House on London’s
Tottenham Court Road, pictured here.
Clive
Wratten, the organisation's CEO, said: “The BTA took the difficult
decision to move to a virtual organisation to emerge from the coronavirus
pandemic a leaner and stronger organisation dedicated to fighting for our
industry’s best interests.
“In giving up our physical office space, we have reduced our
expenditure, but we will continue to meet face-to-face both as a team, and with
our members and partners.
“We have been heartened by offers of ad-hoc space from across the
sector and look forward to working both remotely and from different locations
across the UK.”
The organisation was founded as the Business House Travel Agents
Guild by six business travel agents in 1965. It went on to become the Guild of
Business Travel Agents (GBTA) and then the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC)
in 2005, reflecting changes in the way the business travel sector worked. It was rechristened as the Business Travel Association (BTA) in July 2019.
Over its long history, the association has had offices in Artillery
Row in Victoria as well as various locations on Tottenham Court Road, moving to
Butler House in October 2016.
Commenting on the change, former
chief executive Paul Wait said, “It’s not the where, it's the purpose!”
Founder and CEO of Travelogix Chris
Lewis said, “We went through the heartbreak of saying goodbye to our lovely
Travelogix offices back in February but since then we have never looked back.
“Fully remote working has improved
efficiency, productivity and communication and makes those times we get
together as a team all the more rewarding.”