Click Travel: UK & Ireland's Top Business Travel Agency

This TMC, which specialises in the education, construction, utilities and charities sectors, quickly went on to shave 15% off the budget retailer’s hotel spend – demonstrating its value straight away.

The Birmingham-based agency – winner of the UK & Ireland’s Top Business Travel Agency title each year since the inception of the TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies in 2016 – has a burgeoning team of 235. Recent new recruits include two prospectors, two business development managers and a chief marketing officer, all of whom have contributed to driving additional revenues of £41 million in 2018.

Training is a big focus for staff, with more than 50 educational trips taken in 2018 while monthly in-house sessions further drive their personalised development plans, leading to a 19% in-house promotion rate.

This attention to detail among staff is apparent at all levels of the company too. The board is given a monthly update on the health of each of its 40 biggest accounts with green, amber and red markings indicating any areas in which improvements can be made.

Growing use of artificial intelligence has been important and is often the first responder on the site’s chat function, which accounts for 30% of new enquiries. Elsewhere on the site, more blogs and videos are designed to bring business travel alive and further help customers. The TMC believes it is this tech focus that sets it apart from its rivals.

Staff are also encouraged to help local charities with 1% of their work hours available to do so. In addition to team members raising £4,500 between them for charity last year, Click donated 1% of its profits – £50,000 – in addition.

This multi-award-winning agency’s approach is clearly paying off, with it retaining a phenomenal 98% of clients over the past year, and boosting revenue by £40 million year-on-year – not only through its Lidl win but plenty of other new business too.