Gray Dawes has climbed BTN Europe's annual rundown of the largest travel management companies in the U.K. through organic growth and a not-insignificant pursuit of acquisitions. Backed by the Inchcape family, a run of 11 agency acquisitions since 2015 has helped secure its position as a mid-market agency—it was ranked the 13th largest TMC in the U.K. in 2023—but two further deals this year have heralded a marked shift in its ambitions.
With the acquisition of Australia's MP Travel in January and Florida-based Express Travel in April, Gray Dawes has established a follow-the-sun operation and squarely set out its global ambitions.
Driving the TMC's accelerated growth is CEO Suzanne Horner who for several consecutive years had the uncanny knack of completing – or at least announcing – the TMC's latest acquisition on her birthday.
That was not the case this year, but Horner won't mind since there is further movement on the horizon that BTN understands would propel Gray Dawes into the big league and put it among Europe's 10 largest travel management companies. According to a source close to the matter, heads of terms have been signed on a deal to acquire a European TMC that would double the company's revenue. An announcement regarding the deal is expected in January 2024 and will undoubtedly see Horner begin planning for the next milestone.
Gray Dawes' pursuit and early adoption of NDC is now paying dividends and, in 2023, the TMC is thought to be the biggest booker of British Airways NDC content in the U.K. Together with its connections to other airlines' NDC content, the TMC said its customers see average savings of £86 per booking versus traditional EDIFACT-based fares, a figure that climbs to £253 for non-restricted NDC fare types.
Extending her influence beyond Gray Dawes and the contraction of the European TMC landscape, Horner, as chair of the Business Travel Association's executive board, has championed the need to foster this industry's next generation of talent and encouraged candid and sometimes challenging conversations between industry stakeholders with sometimes differing interests.