Workforce travel spreads beyond the capital as regional business travel hubs close London gap
The UK’s regional cities are closing in on London as workforce travel demand spreads across the country, according to a leading booking platform for workforce travel, Roomex.
Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham collectively now generate almost the same level of workforce travel demand as London. The gap in workforce travel bookings between the three regional cities and the capital has narrowed by 42% year-on-year.
While London remains the UK’s biggest workforce travel hub, Roomex data shows that demand is increasingly spread across major regional business centres. Across the nine non-London cities in Roomex’s top 10, bookings rose by 12.5% year-on-year, compared with 7% growth in London.
Together, those nine regional cities now account for more than two-thirds of demand across the top 10 ranking, suggesting workforce travel is becoming less London-centric as project work, customer visits and operational travel take employees across the UK.
Keith Watson, president at Roomex, said: “London is still the UK’s biggest workforce travel hub, but the story is no longer just about the capital. Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham are now collectively almost level with London, which shows how far business activity is spreading across the regions.
“For employers, this matters because workforce travel programmes need to reflect where teams are actually going. Project work, customer visits and operational travel are increasingly taking people to regional cities, not just head offices in London.”
The wider top 10 also includes Northampton, Glasgow, Leeds, Dartford, Oxford and Cardiff.
Top 10 UK workforce travel destinations
- London
- Manchester
- Bristol
- Birmingham
- Northampton
- Glasgow
- Leeds
- Dartford
- Oxford
- Cardiff