| Date |
|---|
| 25th June 2020 |
As we enter our 14th week of lockdown and see the restrictions easing, we are not yet back to normal and largely we are still largely not ready to start travelling.
Following our previous update, which can be found here, we are still working closely with all of our travel suppliers to understand where they’re experiencing bottlenecks and where we can help with the refund situation. We need to be mindful that while no one is booking travel, the Travel Management Companies (TMCs) are not generating any income, nor is the rest of the industry. This is indeed impacting cash flows throughout the whole supply chain.
We also need to consider how we work with our suppliers and in SUPC, we have an obligation to ensure that we have a supply chain at the end of this.
We recently wrote to Clive Wratten, the CEO of the Business Travel Association (BTA) to raise our concerns and we received a reply this week. You can read both letters below.
Clive also attended the recent National Travel Group and updated us on the action he has been taking on behalf of us and for the wider industry. He has able to raise our issues and the sector to the most senior levels within government. In addition, he has also raised issues around the quarantine system, and the possibility of travel ‘bridges’ or ‘corridors’ for both business and leisure. We will remain in contact with the BTA and update you when we hear anything from them. We will also communicate concerns back to them as they arise.
We have updated the FAQs document, which can find below. Please do get in touch with supc@reading.ac.uk if you want to discuss further, or if you have any questions you would like addressing.