Achieving gold standards through trust and in-depth expertise

“Working in sports is incredibly demanding; Traveleads understands and anticipates all the nuances involved – there’s a lot of trust in this partnership.”

From training camps to world championships, there’s rarely a day off in the world of British Swimming. We chat to chief executive Jack Buckner to find out just why Traveleads has been their travel partner of choice for 28 years.

“Ultimately our relationship comes down to trust. We have great people working for us here at British Swimming and I see that mirrored in the team at Traveleads.

Due to the nature of our work and commitments, sports travel can be incredibly complex. We can have teams of between 20 – 60 athletes, coaches and management travelling to different locations at the same time. There are frequent last-minute personnel changes to manage, unusual kit to book onto flights and complex visas to ensure our team can travel to the likes of Dubai, Australia or Europe with ease.

The fact that we can trust that Eric and his team of experienced sports travel consultants will be leading us every step of the way, certainly makes life easier for us. They always keep our need for flexible flights and our budget constraints front of mind too – simply put, they know what we’re looking for and always deliver.

A big part of appreciating the intricacies of sports travel, is understanding the athletes themselves, be they our swimmers, Para-swimmers or divers. When they’re travelling, they’re likely to be on their way to a training camp or a major competition – they’re already in the performance mindset, the last thing they need to be worried about is complicated travel and how they’re getting to where they need to be.

That’s where Traveleads’ impeccable service shines as they’ve already anticipated the best routes, additional requirements and considered how they can make everyone’s journeys as seamless as possible. Their thinking is simply an extension of our team; it works brilliantly for us.

While we’ve always had a very good relationship, the past year has certainly strengthened it. Despite all the complications the pandemic and Brexit brought, the team has continued to be attuned to our needs and always there to help with every complex issue that arises. Their responses and attitude have been especially impressive in what has been a challenging time for everyone.

Overall, I’m continuously impressed with the way Traveleads works and anticipates what the team at British Swimming requires, whatever the challenges may be. Sports is exceptionally demanding, so it’s invaluable that our travel management is in reliable hands.”

A word from Eric Edwards, Client Services Director - Sports and Groups

“Our team works incredibly hard to understand the complexities involved in sports travel so I’m delighted that their passion shines through to the wonderful team at British Swimming. The world of sports is fast paced, exciting and rewarding – we get a huge sense of satisfaction and pride when we see athletes ranking high and swimming to victory. To a play a small part in helping them get there makes our job very worthwhile.”

Image courtesy of British Swimming.