Flying high – the travel firm with world-class technology

Corporate travel firm Redfern Travel has seen its turnover rocket from 9m in 2006 to more than 40m in 2010 after winning a succession of major public sector contracts, and now plans to grow even further by expanding into the private sector.

The Bradford-based company, which was founded in 1937, used to be a traditional travel agent until it was bought in 1999 by Alpha-Omega, who developed it into a niche business.

The company, whose largest client is the Environment Agency, works with a number of Government departments, including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, as well as 30 local authorities.

The firm, which has about 100,000 registered users, primarily deals with train travel and hotel accommodation although it also arranges overseas trips. Most of the work goes through an automated system which also suggests time and money-saving journeys.

The catalyst for the extraordinary growth was successfully bidding for a framework agreement within the Government's procurement services organisation, Buying Solutions, in 2006, following the 2004 Gershon review on government efficiency.

Mark Bowers, joint chief executive, said: "It was a brave decision at the time because it was a lot of money but our company changed almost overnight. We started off with one government client but that increased to the extent that now we're turning over in the region of 40m and 60 per cent of that is from the public sector."

Since then, the firm has successfully bid for a further two Government framework agreements and is now getting attention from the private sector. This year has already started well for the company with a total of 3m worth of new business already started or committed.

Like-for-like government spending with Redfern went down by about 20 per cent in 2010, although the number of trips fell by only five per cent, which is good news for the firm whose fees are based on the number of transactions rather than how much is spent.

"This says straight away that the Government is buying smarter, for example, moving from first-class to standard tickets saves a lot of money," said Mr Bowers. "Not travelling on peak time trains and delaying a meeting by half an hour can save 80 on a train ticket."

He added: "Because our fee base is on transaction level, fortunately the spending reduction hasn't hit our income because the same number of trips are being made. Last year, despite the fact that there was a 29 per cent drop in Government spend, we still grew by 10m."

The recovery in the private sector is partly fuelling the company's growth. "We're gaining new clients and we're still growing at 1m a month despite the fact that the total spend is going down," he said. "We have a strong base in the construction industry and those who support the public sector."

Mr Bowers believes the key behind Redfern's success is its new technology automating process, called tRIPS (the Redfern Intelligent Packaging System). Launched last year, it works out the best way for its customers to travel – the cheapest, most direct or greenest – depending on their requirements.

"We are extraordinarily efficient," he said. "We believe this is our unique selling point. You can't hear loads of phones ringing here yet we manage 600,000 transactions a year."

The technology saves customers time by thinking one step ahead. "If you're buying a rail ticket going out on Monday and back on Tuesday, the system recognises you're going to need a hotel and while you're deciding which rail ticket you're going to buy and which train you're going to go on, it's already done your hotel search for you."

From the booking through to the payment, the process can be done entirely automatically. "The beauty of that is that it cuts costs from 40 a transaction to a matter of pence," said Mr Bowers.

The only part of the process which is labour intensive is when each client is visited by a contract manager once a quarter to review their travel policy.

The technology also includes a venue-booking feature and even video conferencing. "The most effective way of reducing your travel costs is not to travel," said Mr Bowers.

Looking to the future, Mr Bowers anticipates steady growth, growing by about 15m in 2011.

The private sector is a target for the future. "We're sat in West Yorkshire with a lot of very major companies around here and a lot of them don't know anything about us," he said.

Redfern Travel: The history

Established as a traditional travel company in 1937, Redfern Travel is one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK.

The company remained in the same family ownership until 1999 when it was bought by another travel company, Alfa Omega, and changed its focus to the corporate travel market.

The business currently

has a turnover of more than 40m, with 60 per cent of its work coming from Government contracts,

30 per cent hotel and 10

per cent air.

It employs 32 staff who annually handle 17,000 transactions.

"We're very fortunate. We don't have a sales team, the phone calls just come in," said Mark Bowers, joint chief executive.