A major player in the travel industry, Wings Travel Management, has strengthened its position in the United Kingdom with the acquisition of Grosvenor Travel Management for an undisclosed sum.
The two companies joined forces with effect from April 2016 and will continue to trade independently for the rest of the year, with a view to consolidate the businesses under the Wings Travel Management brand in early 2017.
Founded in 1991, Grosvenor Travel Management specialises in providing high-touch business travel solutions, to clients predominantly in the oil and gas, security, finance, legal and advertising sectors. The company’s sixty staff members manage over £60m in corporate travel sales annually from Grosvenor’s two offices in central and south London.
Tony Sofianos, chief executive officer for Wings Travel Management explained: “This investment demonstrates our commitment to growth in the UK market and lays the final foundation for our plan to transition our global headquarters to London in 2016.
“We spent the last three years looking for the right TMC partner in the UK and during our conversations with Grosvenor Travel Management; it became very evident early in the process, that we shared many common goals and aspirations.
“Our mutual passion to serve customers where business travel and support services are a critical part of their business model is imbedded in both our culture and our day to day operations.
“There is no doubt that each business has its own strengths, but together, our value proposition is magnified and we are therefore, better positioned to serve the niche markets that we specialise in, with a global footprint to support expansion.”
Sofianos added: “This UK expansion, into niche corporate markets such as security and financial services is not exclusive to our overall growth strategy. We will continue to aggressively expand in the oil and gas sector and are actively considering additional locations in the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East and in key locations such as Aberdeen, Scotland in the next six to eighteen months.”
Paul East, chief operating officer, UK/Europe & America’s added: “The combined Wings®/Grosvenor business, means that we are now generating a UK annual turnover close to £100m, which places us in a strong position to build our client base rapidly, in the niche areas that we operate.
“This move will also assist us to optimise our relationships with our suppliers both in the UK and globally which in turn, will support our clients, in maximising their travel programmes.”
Dominic Joyce, managing director, Grosvenor Travel Management commented: “To move to the next level of growth, we needed to provide a multi-national solution to our clients.
“Our combined business allows us to improve our offering to clients and secures the future for our loyal, long-serving staff.”
