Key Takeaways
- A leading global private equity firm was managing nearly £16m annually on travel spend, split tactically across roughly 25 suppliers with no single view of expenditure.
- Procurato built the first real, evidence-based picture of the firm’s travel spend by analysing a full year of flights, hotels, trains, and taxi data.
- A structured sourcing process replaced the scattered supplier base with a single, well-governed travel management partner.
- The new model went live across the UK, US, Europe, and Asia, with new reporting introduced to track spend and compliance going forward.
- The exercise uncovered c.€2.5m in annual savings, driven by supplier consolidation, more online booking, tighter flight-class compliance, and stricter hotel pricing rules.
At a Glance
| Client | Leading global private equity firm |
| Sector | Private Equity |
| Challenge | Disjointed, tactically-managed travel spend across ~25 suppliers with no central visibility |
| Service provided | Strategic Sourcing |
| Related capability | Spend Analysis Services |
| Outcome | c.€2.5m in annual savings, single governed travel model, live across four regions |
The Challenge: Bringing Control to a Disjointed Global Travel Spend
A leading global private equity firm was managing nearly £16m annually on travel spend, but with no single view of its expenditure. Bookings were made tactically by region and team, spread over approximately 25 suppliers, resulting in limited visibility, inconsistent processes, and minimal ability to control costs.
Travel management is a category where fragmentation compounds quickly. When every region books independently, through different suppliers and different channels, it becomes harder to spot patterns, harder to enforce policy, and harder to negotiate from a position of scale.
Procurato was engaged to build a clear picture of current spend and run a proper sourcing process to consolidate the supplier base around a single, well-governed travel management model.
The Approach: Understanding the Problem First, Then Fixing It
Before choosing a new way to manage travel, the team needed to understand exactly how the business was travelling today: on what, by which teams, through which channels, and how far in advance trips were being booked. The client and Procurato team went through a full year of travel data, covering flights, hotels, trains, and taxis, to build the first real, evidence-based picture of the company’s travel spend.
With that picture in hand, the team ran a proper search for a single travel management partner to replace the scattered set of suppliers. This meant talking to people across the business to understand what they actually needed, testing the market to see who could deliver it, and comparing suppliers side by side: scoring them, asking for best-and-final offers, and negotiating, until one clear winner was chosen.
At the same time, the team worked out specific, practical ways to save money: using fewer suppliers, encouraging more online booking instead of phone bookings, tightening up flight class rules, and making sure hotel bookings stayed within agreed price limits.
The Results: A Single Travel Model, Built for Ongoing Control
The sourcing process replaced a disjointed, under-managed travel category with a single, well-governed model, unlocking c.€2.5m in annual savings.
- Replaced a scattered, 25-supplier setup with a single chosen travel partner, giving the business much greater visibility and control.
- Went live across the UK, US, Europe, and Asia, bringing the new model into everyday use.
- Introduced new reporting so the business can track spend and compliance going forward.
- Uncovered c.€2.5m a year in potential savings, through fewer suppliers, more online bookings, better flight-class compliance, and stricter hotel pricing rules.
Services Used
- Strategic Sourcing – running the full RFP process to select and negotiate with a single travel management partner.
- Spend Analysis Services – analysing a full year of travel data to build the first true picture of spend by channel, team, and region.
- Supplier Relationship Management – establishing the governance and reporting needed to sustain the new model post go-live.
- Private Equity procurement expertise – sector-specific understanding of managing indirect categories across a decentralised, multi-region business.
How We Can Help
If your organisation’s travel spend is spread across multiple suppliers and regions with limited central visibility, our Strategic Sourcing service can bring the same evidence-based clarity and consolidation to your travel category that delivered c.€2.5m in savings here.
Talk to us about your travel or indirect spend category →
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