UK Travel Stressing Out Road Warriors

The freedom of cruising down the open road, your music of choice turned up loud, and your suit jacket hanging in the back of a flash company car. Is this the reason you enjoy life as a high-flying businessperson? Apparently not! According to research of the UKís business travellers conducted by NOP, on behalf of web conferencing leader, WebEx, 39% of professionals find the time spent travelling to meetings a major pain point.

The research comes in the midst of government plans to implement íPay-as-you-goí road charges, of up to 1.34 per mile for rush hour motorway traffic to reduce congestion. Sylvia Jensen, Director Communications, WebEx UK commented, ìThe increasing expense and time involved in UK business travel is not only affecting the bottom line and productivity levels, but also stressing employees out. By applying technology alternatives to travel, such as virtual meetings, businesses can cut costs and improve the efficiency and morale of staff.î

The dislike of business travel is directly related to the fact that 95% of workers felt that the most important ingredient for a successful business meeting is arriving feeing relaxed and fresh. Sylvia Jensen, added, ìNegotiating the road, and rail infrastructure of the UK is notoriously time consuming and stressful. Traditionally, travel has always been necessary for business - and the associated expense, time and stresses have been an accepted outlay. However, many business people feel frustrated that they are often forced to make non-essential, or counter-productive business trips.î

The research findings go a long way to explaining why the UK lags behind almost all of its major economic rivals, such as the US and Germany, in terms of overall competitiveness - the UK has recently been overtaken by Chile in the annual World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY). WebEx customer Tammie Crockford, Aviva commented, ìSince implementing WebEx, weíve not only saved money on business travel but have increased staff morale in those teams where frequent business travel used to be the norm. Web Conferencing technology has freed these teams from being slaves to road, rail and plane. Virtual meetings do not replace the face-to-face chemistry of one-to-ones, but they do give our employees a choice of when they travel and more control over their time.î

Sylvia Jensen added, ìTravelling to get face-time with the customer, press the flesh and sign on the dotted line is a crucial aspect of business. However, in certain circumstances virtual meetings technologies, are more effective and more productive than making a long or difficult journey to a face-to-face meeting. Developments in technology now assist business people at every stage of the deal making process, from engaging prospects, right down to the bottom line of deal-making: deciding you can trust someone, negotiating and agreeing on terms.î