Hays Travel saved £1.8m by stopping tea deliveries to shops

Hays Travel has revealed it made £1.8 million in savings last year by stopping tea and coffee deliveries and cutting back on window cleaning at its high-street stores.

The country’s largest independent travel agency chain said it took on board employees’ suggestions to make cutbacks and looked at new ways to generate income, which resulted in the company taking on 10 government contracts.

It still has staff working on two government contracts, taking calls on Covid testing and track and trace programmes.

Chief operating officer Jonathon Woodall-Johnston, speaking at the Hays Travel Independence Group 2022 overseas conference, said the £1.8 million savings were made over a six month period in 2021 thanks to the company “thinking outside the box” and listening to its staff.

Staff suggested tea, coffee and milk deliveries were stopped, that windows did not need cleaning so often, and that foreign exchange deliveries and collections could be amalgamated and reduced to help cut costs.

Woodall-Johnston said: “Staff told us they didn’t want us to pay for tea and coffee last year. We reintroduced deliveries at the end of the year.

“We were asked by our colleagues to look at generating revenue [for them] to do other work. Over the 24 months we delivered ten different government contracts from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

“It was a lifeline for many and we are really proud to say that today we are still running two of those contracts.”

He said staff would continue to be encouraged to put forward ideas to senior management.

“It’s just about empowering staff. We encourage them all the time to send us emails with suggestions,” he added.