Find out how ATPI Corporate Travel worked to ensure their client could deliver on their planned projects, as well as the construction of temporary hospitals, during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Client
Our client, a leading infrastructure group with capabilities in construction services, was essential to the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Whilst the country was told to stay at home, the client’s key workers needed to continue to travel.
Many of the client’s sites and contracts remained operational. Their work included playing a vital role in the construction of the UK’s temporary COVID-19 hospitals. With many of their employees classified as key workers, they needed to travel and stay away from home to work.
The Challenge
Around 500 of the organisation’s employees needed accommodation in over fifty locations across the UK. However, there were limited options due to hotel closures, which included properties on the client’s hotel programme. The situation was made harder as many properties had not updated their online availability, so information could be misleading and inaccurate. The situation was fluid, with hotels closing or reopening at short notice.
Clear information was also required regarding dining options as all hotel restaurants and associated facilities were closed.
We worked closely with the hotel to ensure that everything was set up and safe for the arrival of the guests.
The Solution
ATPI worked quickly to put in place an offline solution for every hotel booking. A team of three travel consultants contacted hotels directly to check they were open to key workers and to assess their suitability. For each property the team clarified the food and beverage options available to the key workers, in addition to the cleanliness and safety protocols the hotels had put in place to ensure the safety of their guests and staff.
One of the travel consultants who worked on booking accommodation in the Carlisle area shared, “Many hotels were closed but we managed to speak to a hotel that were willing to open for us and agreed a rate within policy for eighty-five bed nights. We worked closely with the hotel to ensure that everything was set up and safe for the arrival of the guests. This included the hotel agreeing to provide a small menu so the key workers could stay in the hotel for food. Together, we worked out serving times and menus for the key workers.” The team also worked with serviced apartment to offer self-contained accommodation as an alternative option, giving the travellers the ability to cater for themselves in their specified locations.
This was a lengthy procedure taking up to three times longer than booking a hotel or apartment in ‘normal’ times. As well as being a longer process, it was also an increasingly important challenge as key workers were needed to support many vital projects with short timelines.
ATPI worked to ensure the client’s travellers had the correct documentation confirming heir key worker status for hassle free hotel check-in.
Bespoke daily reports were set up to provide full visibility to the infrastructure group and enable them to monitor who was travelling, where to, the reason for travel and accommodation costs.
The Result
Our client continued to deliver on their planned projects, as well as support the construction of temporary hospitals, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with confidence that they were being offered and secured safe accommodation for their key workers during an extremely challenging time.
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