GSA hosts breakfast networking for travel and risk managers

This week, we hosted a breakfast networking event at PwC’s offices in London with special guest, travel journalist and broadcaster, Simon Calder. More than 50 attendees – made up of travel and risk managers from large corporations including HSBC, Barclays, and Aviva – gathered to learn and implement best practices outlined in ISO 31030.

According to a recent study, 53 percent of travel bookers, buyers, and managers still know very little about the new ISO. Although not yet law, it acts as a framework for ensuring a company delivers on its duty of care requirements to employees, so it is crucial that organisations, and travel risk managers acting on their behalf, are up to speed with the standard.

A helping hand

To help them, our founder and executive director Bob Quick outlined the new standard and discussed the services we offer corporates to help them meet best practice. He then handed over to Andrew Wallis, legal counsel at law firm Peters & Peters, to discuss the legal implications of non-compliance with ISO 31030 in the context of UK and US law.

It was then time for the main event: Lee Whiteing joined Simon Calder to lead an in-depth Q&A, where he spoke on the current state of business travel, including security measures, travel risk, and best practice.

Time for change

Having travelled the world for work, Simon knows a thing or two about making a stay safe and enjoyable. Simon noted some of the ways hotels can keep their guests safe, such as ensure the stairs or lifts to hotel rooms are not easily accessible for anyone via the front entrance or hiring doormen to greet incoming guests and keep an eye out for trouble.  He emphasised the power of greeting guests and engaging with them, both to reassure legitimate visitors and to deter criminals.

Managing travel risk effectively

Whether it is carrying out safety and security checks on hotels and serviced accommodation or building a thorough risk profile of a given destination, mapping out comprehensive travel risk management policies and procedures is one of the most important considerations for successful corporate travel.

Get in touch to find out more on how your business can build ISO31030-ready strategy.