Final word: The lighter side of business travel

The final word

Making a clean getaway

Never work with

children, animals or robot vacuum cleaners. Isn't that how the saying goes? Well, it does now at the Travelodge Cambridge Orchard Park, where one of the budget chain's 7,500 new custom-made 'RoboVac Buddies' decided it wanted a break for it and slipped, unnoticed, out the front door.

Despite a frantic search by the hotel's staff and an appeal for its wherabouts on social media, the work-shy high-tech device wasn't found until the next day.

It was discovered by a fellow cleaner (a human one) under a hedge in the hotel's front drive

No other details were divulged but we'd like to imagine that a few empty cans of Heineken and a half-eaten kebab were found nearby – always signs of a good night out.

Annoyingly the rogue robot's escape hit the headlines before the Travelodge public relations team had the chance to unveil the group's army of RoboVac Buddies to the world's media.

When the press release arrived in our inbox a few weeks later, it pointed out that usually, at the end of their shift, the RoboVac Buddies are "tucked into their custom made team bunk beds for some much needed R&R".

Well, that's what they think anyway...

fancy a workation?

If, like many, you're now working remotely, why not make the most of it? Based on factors such as price, health and safety, weather, social life and ease of working, here are the top 10 countries for a workation in 2022:

1 Portugal 2 Spain 3 Romania 4 Mauritius 5 Japan 6 Malta 7 Costa Rica 8 Panama 9 Czech Republic 10 Germany

Research by Kayak

See it, say it, mute it

Anew initiative by rail chiefs to cut back on so-called 'tannoy spam' will be music to the ears of frequent train users. The DfT is working closely with the Rail Delivery Group, passenger groups and train operators to see whether the "vast number" of on-board announcements could be reduced to give passengers some peace and quiet.

But safety announcements will stay, which means sadly we won't be saying goodbye to the British Transport Police campaign 'See it. Say it. Sorted', once branded the the most annoying slogan of the century.

Office hours have become somewhat blurred by the shift to remote working since Covid hit but it seems even those back in the office find it hard to switch off. A poll of 2,000 UK office workers by internet access and hosting specialist Fasthosts found that every day 49.2% of Brits receive one to five workrelated emails outside of their office hours and one in seven receive up to 10. More shocking is that 67% of Brits generally reply to these emails and 16% say they reply no matter what. So much for work-life balance.

NOMINATE NOW

The Business Travel People Awards 2022 has six new categories: Travel Buyer of the Year, TMC of the Year, Travel Technology Innovator, Sustainability Champion, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion and a special Chair's Award

TheBusinessTravelPeopleAwards.com

Join us to find out the winners and celebrate success at the 2022 awards ceremony at the Leonardo Royal City Hotel, 7-11pm, Tuesday September 13 2022.