Honesty best policy for corporate travel firm

Equilibrium Travel Management (EQ) is challenging the business travel sector by basing its services on a fee-based system rather than the commonplace “fee plus hidden charges” model.

The Fife based company has been created by Franc Jeffrey, an experienced figure in travel management, who was chief operating Officer at Colpitts World Travel until earlier this year.

The senior management team is composed of business partner Duncan Sanders and four other senior travel executives. EQ is projecting £3 million turnover in its first year – and already it has landed six high profile corporate clients.

Jeffrey said EQ was created to meet the rapidly-changing needs of clients who have been forced by the recession to look to maximise return on spend across all areas of their business.

He said: “Travel remains the third largest expense for most organisations, so it is vital that companies get the best value for their money.”

EQ will operate solely on a fees-based approach, as opposed to the ticket plus mark up model widely adopted in the sector.

Jeffrey said: “A travel company which relies on hidden charges is always likely to be drawn to higher value tickets as it provides the best returns for them. It means the customer does not know that the transatlantic business class ticket costing £2,500 would really have cost £2,000 with £500 going to the travel agent.

Despite the economic downturn, business travel remains buoyant. The latest statistics from the Guild of Travel Management show a 6 per cent rise in air business travel, although firms are increasingly looking to compromise on fares and options.

Jeffrey spent 16 years driving Colpitts’ operations across Europe and North America.