Procurement Professional is the official publication of CIPS Australasia

Australia's Two Leading Independent Corporate Travel Consulting Firms merge

27 Jan 2012

Australia’s two foremost management consultancies specialising in corporate travel, TMS and Butler Caroye, have joined forces to become TMS Australia (TMSA).

 The partnership has three shareholders and Directors; Virginia Fitzpatrick and Tony O’Connor, the owners of TMS and Butler Caroye respectively, and aviation expert Andrew Kelly.

Between them, TMS and Butler Caroye have managed over half the larger tenders in the market over the past decade, as well as providing analysis, benchmarking, auditing and strategic advice for over 90 major corporations, universities and Federal and State governments.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, Butler Caroye won the BttB Best Consultancy Award, and O'Connor was the first inductee into the Industry Hall of Fame. TMSA partners are on the boards of both the GBTA and ACTE, and regularly publish articles and speak at procurement conferences both in Australia and overseas.

Fitzpatrick was invited to join the panel of experts as the specialist advisor for the Federal Government’s recently completed “Whole of Government” airline and TMC tenders. In Fitzpatrick's opinion, the combination of experience, skills and sophisticated tools will be unmatched.

“And together we are an independent think-tank, with the ability to develop best procurement solutions for travel buyers, beyond current market offerings.”

O’Connor says that the union was several months in the making. “The more we talked, the more it became obvious to the three of us that one plus one plus one would equal five. We’re already a close knit team, combining the best of our systems and processes.”

Kelly comments that the team approach enables TMSA to deliver deep expertise in many areas to each client. “We respond quickly with a large toolkit, a broad knowledge base and a long track record.”

The new independent partnership is working on several projects already, including a number of airline, TMC, technology and accommodation tenders, and supplier management contracts. In 2012, the company will expand its range of services with new tools under new branding.