£200m government contract win for travel firm
CLARITY Travel Management has been appointed by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to deliver travel and accommodation for civil servants within central government departments.
The three year contract, worth £200m, will use Manchester-based Clarity’s software to find the most cost-effective travel plans for government departments, saving the government more than £50m.
Rather than a traditional government framework agreement, CCS has now split the provision into separate contracts to give central government departments the ability to access cheaper travel rates, including special offers and promotional rates.
The new agreements are designed to help make civil servants’ travel behaviour more efficient and sustainable. Clarity’s digital booking tools and tracking will ensure any unnecessary or inefficient journeys are highlighted and reported to CCS.
The three other successful bidders were Redfern Travel, Calder Conferences Ltd and Hogg Robinson Group.
Pat McDonagh, chief executive of Clarity Travel Management, said: “The strict criteria for travel within central government departments will provide a challenge that we are more than ready to meet. The win is a nod towards not just our market-leading systems, but also the infrastructure of our business which is perfectly geared to manage the extensive security elements involved.”
The implementation process is already underway and Clarity Travel Management expect to be delivering for its new clients by the middle of October 2015.
Matt Denham, commercial delivery director at CCS, said: “This shift away from traditional frameworks to separate contracts is an excellent example of how the government is reshaping its commercial approach to deliver savings for taxpayers while making the way government runs more efficient.”
Clarity has already secured more than £26m worth of business in the first half of the year, following heavy investment in its ‘Go2’ suite of digital booking, management information and tracking products.
