COMPANY PROFILE
2013
HRG
Rennies Travel
Industry leaders through collaboration and innovation
company profile
Industry leaders through collaboration and innovation Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Chris Bolderstone
Spanning six successful decades and with numerous travel innovations, it’s no wonder HRG Rennies Travel are one of South Africa’s most well respected award winning online travel management companies.
When you need a solution to your business travel problems it makes sense to go to one of the best. IndustrySA speaks to Bronwyn Philipps, Managing Director at HRG Rennies Travel and asks how the company has become one of the industry leaders in an increasingly competitive market. “Our core business is to provide strategic travel management services to the corporate market both locally and across the globe. We provide travel management solutions that meet a varied range of customers’ needs, across many markets, whether they choose to trade traditionally or online. To do this successfully, we constantly listen closely to what our clients need, and we don’t make assumptions - our innovation is driven by asking the critical questions, are we relevant, are we providing value?” After its formation in 1954 Rennies Travel experienced vibrant growth. In 1990’s, the Southern African network,
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including Namibia, Malawi and Zimbabwe, became part of Rennies Travel. At the time, no competitor had fully owned offices in Africa outside SA and today HRG Rennies, now part of the Bidvest Group, is one of the biggest corporate travel management companies in South Africa with over 60 branches and a strong global affiliation with The Hogg Robinson Group, expanding its reach to over 120 countries through this partnership. Today HRG Rennies Travel offers many benefits for organisations that require travel management that meets global standards in best practice.
CLIENTS AND CUSTOMERS Philipps explains: “The corporate market constitutes over 80% of our client base and we manage the travel programmes of both small and large organisations, across a broad range of all industries. In excess of 60% of our key client base has traded with us for 10 years or
HRG Rennies Travel
more; some for several decades, and we have consistently maintained a 97% retention rate across our client base.” It’s no wonder then that in both 2012 and 2013 the business was named winner in the category of Best Travel Management Company Africa. The commitment to client centric solutions has seen the business creating industry specific business streams in order to provide specialist niche services to their various client sectors that they service. Examples of this include solutions aimed at the Financial and Professional Services industry, Government and foreign entities, Marine and Logistics clients and various multi-national brands who require a 24/7 global contact centre to support their global footprints. The company also offers in-house emergency travel services and was the first travel management company to introduce this for its customers. With such success over the past six decades, we ask what the future targets are for the company and if they
hope to offer any new services to ensure their success continues. “We are constantly transforming our company to reflect the varied needs of our dynamic clients and market. To do this, we don’t just anticipate - we determine and pre-empt smarter ways to do things. Then we apply our resources and our influence to deliver on these commitments” says Philipps. “Our target is certainly to grow our turnover in the business but also to increase our influence in the wider landscape of the South African travel industry and economy. We aim to leverage our partnerships to extend our service solutions and position ourselves as the leading online travel management company on the continent. It is important to remember that this is a service industry and it will always be about having the right people - it’s about listening to the client and getting the service mix right, so that we can provide the solutions they seek. We do face a
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company profile
critical skills shortage in the industry in SA and attracting talent will continue to be a challenge which we have to master.” Philipps explains: “Like every industry in the world though, technology has impacted the travel space and our business in a big way and has revolutionised our industry,” she says.
ONLINE TRAVEL BOOKING With technology innovation being such a key factor in business, Philipps says that: “The move to booking travel online saw us introducing a complete online solution over a decade ago”. The company were also market leaders in establishing an in-house virtual e-centre to provide support to the online solution. “We have introduced a number of innovative and technology driven products and services which make business travel more convenient for our clients, properly handles and analyses data and creates new channels of interaction in the way the clients need,” says Philipps.
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THE RED STAMP CLUB Another example of leading through innovation is the launch in 2012 of the companies Red Stamp Club program, With over 700 members to date, Philipps tells IndustrySA how they worked with all stakeholders – the corporate, the traveller and the guesthouses and B&B’s to understand the needs in this growing market sector. This program has helped to improve booking, invoice and payment processes, and offers member B&B’s valuable support at various levels. The company has also placed strong focus on training and development of the SMME tourism sector as part of the initiative. The Red Stamp Club is unique in that “it also offers the corporate company a credible platform from which to influence their BBBEE objectives and the South African SMME landscape in a positive way; a real win-win,” says Philipps. It is clear that HRG Rennies focus their business on the requirements and specifications of their customers. With continuing changes in travel and accessibility, is it easy to stay at the top of such a competitive market? “While we do
HRG Rennies Travel
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company profile consider ourselves industry leaders, clients and travellers today have more choice than ever before when procuring travel services. To be the partner of choice we continuously ensure that we have the right mix of knowledgeable people, sound technology and credible, meaningful partner relationships” explains Philipps. She goes on to attribute the company’s continuing success as industry leaders to “collaboration and creating customised solutions that support client objectives and also redefine our value proposition on an on-going basis. Staying ahead means that in all ways we need to strive to get smarter at what we do, boldly embracing change. Our most vibrant affiliations are with clients who are equally driven to finding new ways to entrench their brands as industry leaders – that is when we are at our best.” She adds: “We are in it to stay, and we partner with those who support our commitment to a sustainable solution.”
A CLEANER CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP With so much emphasis and competition for a ‘green’ business status, Philipps explains that for HRG Rennies Travel: “Our own activities do not pose a
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serious environmental or ecological threat, but we are committed to respecting and protecting the environment so we are working towards being a carbon neutral company.” The company’s partnership with Cleaner Climate helps to deliver a greener travel solution and is now at the core of the organisation’s ethos. They have helped to reduce their impact in a number of ways which include, producing corporate materials in electronic format to save waste and encourage recycled materials. In each HRG Rennies branch, they have ‘Green Guru’s’ which create awareness to reduce energy consumption and promote the recycling of office materials. Lastly, through their partnership with Cleaner Climate, they have devised an innovative scheme to measure how much carbon is used each time you travel. With the accumulated ‘carbon credits’, HRG Rennies donate these to an environmentally friendly cause. The idea behind this is to encourage their clients and partners to follow along the same ‘green’ principles and ultimately, create more awareness to help reduce carbon emissions globally.
HRG Rennies Travel
HRG Rennies has been recognised as one of the Top 500 best managed companies in South Africa. But does such an impressive accolade have much impact on the employees and how the company is run on a day-to-day basis? “We have a vibrant staff engagement communication strategy” says Philipps. “Our research and on-going interaction with our people at all levels tells us that brand pride runs high and that we are the chosen employer of choice in the industry – attracting outstanding talent. This translates into the delivery of high service standards to meet the expectations of a diverse and dynamic client base who hold our people accountable for our brand promise of EXPECT MORE.” So with 60 years of ever increasing success for HRG Rennies, what can this achievement be attributed to? “Collaboration and innovation” says Philipps. “We work closely with all our stakeholders to continuously transform our organisation to meet the needs of the market. Our promise to deliver more than expected to our clients and our shareholders is what drives our culture – we do this by unleashing the talent within our people, our powerful business partnerships, Portleveraging of Ngqura
and creating an environment that fosters innovation at all levels. “Our energy and agility has seen our brand revitalised in the market – we have taken what we know works, after decades of experience, and we have applied it to creating exciting new value propositions. This ongoing and relentless endeavour is underpinned by our commitment to transparency, accountability, integrity, and service excellence.” With such impressive targets and commitments flowing through the company, it is clear that HRG Rennies Travel will continue to represent as industry leaders in corporate travel management for many years yet.
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“Our core business is to provide strategic travel management services to the corporate market both locally and across the globe” MAR 14 PAGE 7
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