A mislaid passport when you are on the other side of the globe is potentially the thing of nightmares, however, it’s reassuring to know Meon is used to dealing with much, much worse.
TMCs are well versed in assisting with such mishaps every day, but Meon Valley Business Travel is set apart as perhaps the only one that has a specialist medical assistance unit – Meon Repatriation – so if things really do go sideways, we know how to support you.
Thankfully the vast majority of what the Meon team tackle doesn’t require an air ambulance -the most common is simple miscommunication or misinterpretation, for example of an email – but if you’ve missed that connection in Atlanta or the last flight home from Frankfurt is cancelled, it’s reassuring to know help is just a phone call away.
Expert Help When You Need It Most
“In a world where travellers are increasingly reliant upon technology, regrettably it’s not until something goes wrong that people appreciate the value of having an expert on the end of the phone,” says Stephen Inskip, Meon’s new commercial director.
“We’ve all been there, when the last flight of the day goes tech and everyone is frantically scrambling to get an hotel and rebooked on the next available flight. For our clients a simple call to their dedicated team, or our in-house Out of Hours, and everything is taken care of. The next available flight is booked for you, any accommodation arranged, leaving you stress-free to hop in an Uber or continue working in the lounge until the next flight. We do a lot of this as routine, in my view we just haven’t been very good at telling the world about it.”
Inskip believes Meon Repatriation, and the know-how within the business, is a major USP for Meon Business Travel: “It’s a real differentiator as we have an exceptionally talented team, relationships with key suppliers that can make decisions very, very quickly, particularly at airports. So we really are used to saving lives.”
Inskip joined in January and is clear about what attracted him. “What sets us apart from every other TMC is the attitude of our people; they care! A lot of businesses talk about that, but it’s baked into our DNA and reflected through every level of the business – that was a huge draw for me,” he says.
“The moment you walk through the door the Meon culture and passion is tangible and that really excites me. The fact we’re essentially a family business supports our culture and values. It gives us focus and purpose that resonates with our clients across all verticles.”
“We’re not just ‘bums on seats’, everyone here is genuinely passionate about their contribution and driven to make a difference.”
Meon’s approach is that it always helps to build the relationship before the trip. “One of the things we have a laser-focus upon is picking up the understanding our clients, it sounds simplistic, but getting to know them, their business culture and their individual – from the more run of the mill examples of a traveller preferring to be on the top floor of the hotel they are staying in or prefers the slightly more specific requests to be on the different side of the aircraft depending upon whether they are flying in to Heathrow from the US or Asia,” says Inskip.
From Routine Assistance to Life-Saving Interventions
For more serious incidences, the round-the-clock team is a phone call away, if they haven’t contacted you first – which is usually the case. A recent example of this came in 2023 during the Rhodes wildfires. Clients on holiday with their young autistic child had to be rescued from a potentially life-threatening situation after they found themselves literally fleeing the flames by running barefoot along the beach.
The Meon team were in constant communication via phone and messaging platforms to find a method of extraction, eventually securing a water sports operator willing to pick them up in a boat during the middle of the night. An hotel room was secured in an unaffected part of the island and a car despatched to meet them. In all, the team spent 72 hours on the case.
Thankfully incidences such as this are infrequent, although travellers have become a little blasé following the in recent years, although Inskip believes Covid has brought a renewed appreciation of human contact and empathy more when something doesn’t go to plan.
The perfect blend of talent & technology
All this underlines the value in Meon’s approach that people are key, but this does not mean ignoring new technology; work is currently underway to harness best in breed platforms dynamically and how they can integrate their proposition to fuse with a high-touch service with a appetite for cutting-edge technology.
“In a world of consolidation where there is a plethora of platforms, my ambition is to bring in the best in breed technology led by our exceptionally talented people to fit the needs of our Clients” Inskip says. “We have been doing all these wonderful things which deliver incredible service, the right technology with a tangible ROI, now we just need to let the world know about it.”
Ready to Experience the Meon Difference?
You’ll be hearing more about these developments. Meanwhile, if you would like to speak to our incredible team…please email [email protected] or phone 01730 711910.
