TapTrip expands after lockdown pivot to target Travel Management Companies

TapTrip expands after lockdown pivot to target Travel Management Companies

Netflix-style online model ‘is more defensible against future challenges’, says start-up

Online travel management company Taptrip says it is seeing increased demand for its Netflix model-inspired online corporate travel solutions.

The start-up has expanded from six staff to 20 including strengthening its developer team with the appointment of Diana Salyte as product owner.

She will “drive consistency” across the company, liaising between the development team and wider stakeholders.

New junior software engineers Caitlin Bishop and Katie Raby have also joined. Bishop formerly worked at WorldPay as payments controller.

Raby runs a Girls Who Code club in her local community as part of her drive to close the gender gap in technology.

Both were hired through Taptrip’s partnership with Northcoders, which showcases talent in the technology sector while addressing stereotypes within a widely male-dominated industry.

TapTrip won the Business Travel Show Disrupt Award in 2019 and has raised £2.7 million from investors including Barclays, Techstars, Startup Funding Club, easyJet and ATPI.

During lockdown it pivoted to sell its online book tool (OBT) to TMCs rather than going direct to SMEs.

Thomas Young, chief executive, said: “Our pipeline of TMCs has grown rapidly as many have realised that the online model we use for travel is far more defensible against future challenges we may face.

“The travel industry is struggling, so we adapted our service offering to help keep the industry moving, and we have integrated a live chat functionality into our OBT to bring the human touch back to tech, something very much needed at a time of such uncertainty.”

Neil Ruth, Taptrip chief operating officer, added: “I am delighted we have remained on our growth trajectory despite the challenges facing the global travel industry, however, I’m not surprised:

our business model is simple – to make enforcing travel policies, expense tracking and managing best value business travel as easy as using Netflix.

“We’re offering TMCs smart, efficient solutions for businesses that just make sense – a better service that costs less that they are able to offer all of their clients (not just SMEs) with a smarter, more immersive and user-friendly Cloud-based online booking tool designed to help increase customer service, satisfaction and employee acquisition and retention.”