BEFORE 2012, NINE TMCS were involved in managing travel for central government departments, but this year the Government Procurement Service (GPS) has appointed just two, under the scope of the newly formed Central Government Travel Management Service. HRG has been contracted to manage all global travel and Redfern Travel to manage the domestic sector.
The decision of the GPS to appoint just two TMCs prompted some criticism amongst the business travel community. Among the comments was that of Mervyn Williamson, joint managing director of Statesman Travel, who said the tender did not encourage smaller businesses to put themselves forward.
But a GPS spokeswoman said the appointment of Redfern Travel was indicative of the government’s bid to work more with smaller businesses. “This procurement demonstrates the government’s commitment to improving access to government business for small- and medium-sized organisations,” she said.
Andrew Waller, EMEA president for Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), which was unsuccessful in its bid for the domestic travel tender, spoke of his concerns about the appointment. He said: “I am proud of what CWT has achieved in the UK for the public sector over the past 15 years. Together, we developed travel programmes that delivered very significant savings, met sustainability targets and successfully moved transactions online.
“In my experience, one of the key decision factors in procurement of large contracts is the ratio of the value of the contract relative to the turnover of the potential supplier, in order to limit exposure to risk. I am surprised, therefore, at the decision of the Government Procurement Service in this respect.”