Travelport CCO, Armin Meier, presented at FOCUS on recent industry developments and what may follow the global financial crisis.

Senior leaders from throughout FCm’s global business converged in Sydney (Australia) this month, for the company’s second annual ‘FOCUS’ conference.

The event concentrated on FCm’s business practices and growth strategies for the next 12 months, as an integral part of its global planning and benchmarking. It was attended by more than 100 representatives from FCm’s network of wholly-owned and partner businesses, which currently spans more than 70 countries worldwide.

FCm Brand Leader, Rob Flint, said FOCUS provided an important opportunity to meet as a global team, strengthen the culture that makes FCm unique, and consolidate best practices for our growing client base.

“In these challenging conditions, we believe it’s even more important to bring our people together, share the wins and build on our company spirit and long-term profitability,” he said.

FCm has extended its consultancy service with US-based Richardson Electronics Ltd (RELL), from North America to more than 30 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Founded in 1947, RELL is a global provider of engineered solutions serving the radio frequency, wireless communications, industrial, power conversion and display systems markets.

The company sought global travel consolidation, better visibility into expenditure, and seamless implementation of its travel management processes. FCm assisted RELL in creating an internal travel committee with representatives from its HR and finance teams, as well as top travellers from each business unit. Guided by FCm, the committee has helped RELL achieve best practice travel management, including one global travel policy to maximise productivity and cost savings.

RELL global travel manager, Karen Allen, said FCm won the company’s confidence to manage RELL’s travel worldwide following its effective service in North America. “We had never implemented a travel program globally before, and FCm gave us the strategic direction we needed to achieve consistency and cost control,” she said.

Kate Davey, Operations Centre Area Leader for FCm UK.	The award-winning team at FCm Ireland.

FCm has been on a winning streak with a series of major awards won in the UK and Ireland over recent months.

• Kate Davey, Operations Centre Area Leader for FCm UK has been awarded Young Manager of the Year by the British Travel & Hospitality Hall of Fame. The award recognises outstanding achievement by younger business managers in creating and developing their industry.
• FCm UK has been awarded Best Companies accreditation and earmarked as ‘one to watch’ for employer excellence by the Best Companies Ltd, which also compiles the Sunday Times list of 100 best companies to work for. Best Companies surveyed some 450 of FCm’s 600 staff in the UK for comprehensive feedback on areas such as leadership, personal growth, well-being, fair pay, benefits and communication.
• FCm Ireland was awarded as one of the nation's best workplaces in 2009, after being selected from more than 4,000 organisations. Each year, the Great Place to Work® Institute partners with the Irish Independent to conduct the Best Workplaces in Ireland study, widely recognised as Ireland's most comprehensive study of workplace culture.