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UK firms ‘squandering’ £1.3bn on business trips
Unnecessary and extravagant business trips are costing UK companies more than £1.3 billion a year, new research claims.
The YouGov poll of 800 firms for budget chain Travelodge found that almost half of companies do not set trip budgets, rising to 59% of small to medium-sized businesses.
The survey findings show that 84% of UK employees take 14 million overnight business trips a year, squandering up to £1.3 billion a year.
More than 40% of staff arrange their own business trips and claim they can spend what the like when they are away.
The survey also found that 88% say they are not influenced by cost, while a third of 18-29 year olds exploit business trips as perks but only 12% of employees believe their organisations are interested in cost cutting.
The single biggest drain on of business travel budgets is accommodation, the poll claims, with over a third (38%) staying in four or five star hotels, only 11% spending less than £50 a night and just 18% staying in budget accommodation.
On flights, only 11% of companies have a policy enforcing the use of budget airlines while only 9% of employees will buy train tickets sufficiently far in advance to take advantage of saver fares.
Travelodge sales and marketing director Guy Parsons said: “The research has been an eye-opener, the UK economy shouldn’t have to take such an unbelievable financial hit.
“We Brits are cautious with our personal finances and we should apply that same mentality to our spend at work.”
Report by Phil Davies
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