It began with two people in Brisbane, sharing a computer. Three decades later, Corporate Travel Management (CTM) has a workforce of 3,200 people across four continents, with a total transaction value of £5.5 billion.

When Jamie Pherous started his travel business aged just 25, he had no idea what it would become, but he had a clear vision. “I was working for a large, global consultancy company with a large travel spend and I was travelling frequently,” he explains.

“Everything was a call centre, and you were just a number. The technology we used was OK in the States but nowhere else, and when I found a better fare elsewhere there was no way of feeding back those cost savings to enhance ROI on the company’s travel spend. I realised there must be a way of turning that £5 million annual spend into a £3 million spend, so I left a well-paying job to start from scratch.”

The three principles that drove the business at the start still apply today. “Really strong personalised service, technology that adds value, and underpinned with return on investment reporting,” he explains.

From the excitement of winning the very first client – a mining company – his energy for the business is still strong but today Pherous takes a less hands-on approach.

“I believe in empowerment, giving people the tools and the infrastructure to be the best they can be. It sounds like a cliché but it’s all about building a culture that people want to be part of and seeing people develop and make careers for themselves.”

Achieving a good work/life balance is key to his success as a leader. “When I was younger, I used to feel guilty when I heard how many hours other CEOs worked, because I wasn’t working those long hours. But I knew that to avoid being burnt out, you need to take time out and spend time with your family and friends doing what you love.”

“I believe in empowerment, giving people the tools and the infrastructure to be the best they can be”

Surfing and skiing are his passions – activities also enjoyed by his five sons, who are aged between 18 and 24. A self-confessed adrenalin junky, every year he goes hiking and heli-skiing with friends in Alaska. Being in remote places in nature is where he has his best lightbulb moments. “There’s no doubt that from a strategy point of view I do my best thinking when I’m in the middle of nowhere, away from the office,” he says.

Now that the market has begun to normalise following Covid, CTM has set a clear strategy going forward with a five-year plan to double the size of its business.

“We’ve not set crazy goals. We have set targets to win new customers, and we’ll continue to automate the business using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve productivity and customer service. Crucially, the whole business is aligned and locked in with the plan.”

Unlike many TMCs who emerged from the Covid pandemic laden with debt, CTM is debt free and has a strong balance sheet. “There were definitely some dark days through Covid but we had learnt from the swine flu pandemic in Asia and put effective measures in place,” Pherous explains.

Seeing the impact of closed borders, CTM recognised the importance of having a good mix of clients and building a strong domestic customer base in each market. In the UK, it secured the travel management account for the UK Government, and when Covid hit CTM was responsible for repatriating 50,000 British citizens. “The team was very privileged to have that responsibility. It was a complex operation and the biggest movement of people since World War II,” he notes.

Having a more resilient mix of clients meant CTM’s revenue only dropped by two thirds, considerably less than many of its competitors.  Its recovery since Covid has also been quicker than most thanks to strategic acquisitions and client wins, and at £5.5 billion, its total transaction value (TTV) is now way above the £3 billion it was in 2019.

“Our NPS scores for both our customers and our people are also the highest they’ve been, even compared to pre-Covid levels,” adds Pherous, and its customer retention rate is 97%. “We’re winning customers around the world, both global enterprises and SMEs in niche sectors,” he says

“There’s no doubt that from a strategy point of view I do my best thinking when I’m in the middle of nowhere, away from the office”

Much of the success, Pherous believes, is down to CTM’s focus on people, customers, process and innovation.

“It’s simple really. If you have good tools, good service and staff engagement, you win and retain customers. I think communication is also key – being straight with people about what we’re doing and why.”

Pherous believes a strong culture of embracing change and innovation, particularly in technology, has also been vital.

“We’ve developed SleepSpace, our proprietary hotel management system, that enables both clients and suppliers by maximising choice, content and rates. We built our own booking tool, Lightning, and that was one of the best decisions we ever made,” he explains.

“In the UK, while other TMCs struggle to manage clients with high volume domestic travel effectively, our tech stack and productivity levels are so efficient we’ve been able to pivot to look at UK companies with big domestic travel spends, such as companies in construction or heavy materials.”

“As a company, cross-region collaboration and purposeful travel have become essential as we steer CTM into its next chapter of growth”

Working closely with clients has also been invaluable. “We always ask our customers for feedback. We want to know how to change the way things are done and find a better solution,” says Pherous.

After an unsettling post-Covid period where the cost of travel went through the roof, Pherous is happy that prices are normalising and customers are getting back to basics, focussing on how to buy travel more efficiently.

“We’re using AI to automate tasks which are no value or low value, freeing up our people to do the complex work that matters for our clients,” he explains.

CTM’s AI-powered chatbot Scout is meeting the needs of clients who increasingly want to self-serve out of hours and this is particularly true for the new generation of business travellers.

“Millennials now make up three quarters of the workforce and in the next five to 10 years they will be the people running the corporations we serve,” observes Pherous.

“They want tools to help them make changes quickly, or to access their itineraries through apps on the go, but they want the technology to be customer friendly and easy to use like the tech they’re using for their leisure travel.”

The behaviour of the next generation is also driven by social and environmental concerns.

“They want to work for companies that are more sustainable. Our booking tool doesn’t just help our customers identify better options, such as switching from air to rail, we  have carbon budgets, smart comparisons, speedy sorting and lots more.” 

Like other TMCs, CTM is adapting to the new ways of working post pandemic.

“Hybrid is here to stay and we are holding more meetings to bring our teams together,” says Pherous. “As a company, cross-region collaboration and purposeful travel have become essential as we steer CTM into its next chapter of growth.”

In brief

Do you enjoy travelling for work?

Yes, I love it. I will never take it for granted. I live most of the year in Brisbane and spend a few months in the US, in Colorado, to be closer to our important North America and European business. Each year I do a round-the-world trip – Singapore, Hong Kong, London, New York – and when I travel I still pinch myself. I never lose sight of how lucky I am to see the world and experience so many amazing destinations.

What are you most proud of in your career?

From a business point of view, it’s been incredible to see people who have had their first job at CTM and gone on to make very successful careers. I’m also immensely proud of our teams and how we’ve worked on hugely important projects, such as the Covid repatriation and getting our teams out of Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Definitely my mother and father, who were both entrepreneurs. They worked together in fashion and property, and I would listen to them talking about business at the dinner table and I’m sure I absorbed what they were saying and their tenacity, determination and hard work. I think looking back I was always going to run my own business, not necessarily in travel, but I was also going to be entrepreneur.

Would you encourage your sons to work in travel?

They’re all so different and I’d prefer them to find their own pathway. I think that working for the family business is difficult because you need to work twice as hard to prove yourself. I hope that they go out into the world with a good work ethic and understand how important it is to always be curious and ask questions. Jamie Pherous founded Corporate Travel Management Limited (CTM) in 1994. Before that he worked for  Arthur Andersen, now EY, as a qualified Chartered Accountant, specialising in business services and financial consulting, notably in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the UAE. 

Jamie Pherous founded Corporate Travel Management Limited (CTM) in 1994. Before that he worked for  Arthur Andersen, now EY, as a qualified Chartered Accountant, specialising in business services and financial consulting, notably in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the UAE. 

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Corporate Travel Management