Bob Papworth talks to Kate Scully, travel advisor at Petrofac, a leading service provider to the oil and gas production and processing industry
Describe Petrofac’s travel programme
Core Petrofac travellers globally are probably around the 500 mark at present, which is down from previous years, but the overall figure can go into the thousands. Our corporate guys travel, on average, around twice a quarter. The UAE dominates our programme for outbound travel by far, but south-east Asia, Houston, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and North Africa also feature heavily, along with Scotland.
Has the nature and/or number of those trips changed in recent years?
Yes – spend is down across the sector. The prolonged drop in the oil price has changed attitudes to travel for business and we all have to be more cost-aware.
Tell us about your travel policy and how you communicate it to employees
Our policy is both dictated by the grade of the traveller in question and the amount of hours they will be travelling for. We don’t tend to allow anyone business class travel under six hours these days. In all our areas of high spend we have a mandated hotel programme, which needs authorisation from a central point – that is, me – to book outside of. We were using over 130 different properties in the UAE alone; now we have five on the programme.
Do your travellers understand the importance of policy compliance?
Travel is an emotive issue for staff. People don’t care so much where a pen, computer, desk or chair comes from as long as it fulfils its purpose. Travel is a different kettle of fish – there is always push-back and there are always compliance issues – I won’t be alone in saying that. We always contract on price versus service/product. We have to understand that our people are travelling to service our business, so it’s important we don’t make it a stressful experience just to make it cheaper. You have to look at the bigger picture and in many locations the health and safety of your staff is paramount.
How do you source secure, longer stays in out-of-the-way destinations?
We have purpose-built crew accommodation on project in the most part – we have to, as it’s a simple cost of doing business in some of these locations. A lot of our sites really are in the middle of nowhere. Where we have local country offices with local staff, we would take advice from them, plus our security teams would also be involved.
How do you manage risk, and educate employees about safety and security?
We do track our travellers via our TMCs and, internally, we have large security teams – these have standards and procedures in place to control movements in such locations. We also have contracts with organisations such as [third-party security specialists] International SOS.
How long have you been in your current post and what attracted you to the role in the first place?
I’ve been five years in my current post. I studied art history at university and on graduation worked in TV for a while. I then started working for Petrofac ten years ago as a temp. Working at first part-time, I became an executive assistant to a now-retired director of the business. As the company grew, my role grew and I was booking a lot of travel and contracting for our events. I started sitting in on meetings with the airlines and other suppliers, and learning about yield sales and negotiations, learning how to manage a programme. I studied and attended as many events possible to learn more and this, eventually, became my current job. I have always loved to travel and that helps, too, of course.
What have been your biggest challenges in the job?
To pull together Petrofac’s UK travel operations, which previously ran as almost seven separate businesses with differing policies. Convincing areas of the business to change focus and believe in a group approach wasn’t easy, but we got there. When a new challenge lies ahead, think back to the mountainous tasks you have already conquered – you can lose sight of this.
What do you enjoy most about the travel management sector?
I like good data – it’s key to the role. I also love the negotiations, the back-and-forth and getting the best deal, and to see that reduction in an average fare or spend overall – you then know your strategy was on the money. I would like to see more transparency between buyers, suppliers and agents. We will always be at cross-purposes to some extent, but I like a good, open conversation with all three.
This year you are joining the judging panel for the Business Travel Awards 2017 – what qualities will you be looking for among the contenders?
I like to see things re-imagined, but for the greater good of the traveller and company, not just as gimmicks aimed at millennials – a term far too overused in travel these days. I want to see real innovation, real service and real results.
Petrofac is a service provider to the oil and gas production and processing industry. It has a 35-year track record and is part of the FTSE 250 Index. It has 31 offices and around 19,000 staff worldwide comprising more than 80 nationalities.