Barefoot and Boz Scaggs

Steve travels three or four times a week visiting staff around the UK. He also travels regularly to Europe and around five times a year to the United States, for meetings with colleagues and clients.

You don’t believe in dressing up for a flight then?

I can’t believe people who do that. The most important thing on a flight is to be comfortable and that’s why I take off my socks and shoes. I look at people wearing suits and they get off the flight looking crumpled and awful and I just think ‘why?’ But there is this strange expectation that you have to be smart in business class. I flew to Los Angeles recently and got quizzed three times by security guards who asked me if I was in the wrong queue, just because I had trainers, jeans and a t-shirt on.

Do you just plug in the music as soon as you’re onboard?

No, I travel business class on long flights, because I often have to go straight into a meeting, and I’ll also watch a movie, eat and try to do some work. But I never drink on flights. I enjoy a good novel and can recommend Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. Everyone loves The Da Vinci Code, but I don’t think it’s his best book. I also read a lot of business and self-help books. They make you feel good, but there’s nothing original about them, they’re all about going from adversity to prosperity. Mind you, John McEnroe’s autobiography, You Cannot Be Serious, was interesting because it was all about coming from an affluent background and trying to stay that way.

Which airlines do you prefer?

I’d like to travel more on Virgin Atlantic, because the service is so good and they let you eat when you want to, not when they want you to. But I don’t go Virgin very often, because I can rarely get a deal. We’ll go on the airline with the best price and use Travelbag, which is ironic because they do a lot of business for Australians looking for a deal! Travelbag get me the best prices and also tell me I can go direct from Heathrow for X price or via Amsterdam for Y price, which I’ve done in the past. In my experience the American airlines are polite but don’t make much fuss. I went Lauda Air to Australia and the service was unbelievable, absolutely phenomenal, maybe because they have to work that much harder to get the business. I’ve just come back from LA on Air New Zealand, which was very good. I haven’t been British Airways yet, but I’m going with them for the first time in April, to Phoenix.

Presumably you look for a deal on short haul trips?

Absolutely. We used to have a travel company book trips for us, but then we realised we could do it over the internet ourselves. We actually had an internal competition to see who can find the cheapest flights to Europe and the winner was a chap who went somewhere with Ryanair for just 50p plus tax. A short trip is just a commuter hop. I live near to Luton and Stansted, so the no frills airlines are very convenient for me. You can go on a full service carrier, pay three times as much and get a bacon butty thrown in. Big deal, I’ll buy my own food.

Do you take the train for domestic trips?

Yes, often, but the cost is a disgrace, you can pay £120 for a seat to Birmingham from London, which is about what a cheap flight to New York costs. But you can work and relax. If you drive, it’s all dead time and you end up fatigued when you get there. The last five miles into Birmingham can take as long as the rest of the drive from London.

What about hotels?

We do have a hotel broker, a lady who is always searching out deals for us. In the UK, I just want something clean, simple and functional. I’ve got no brand loyalty at all. I spend so little time in the room that a cheap place can be as good as the Ritz. In Brussels and Paris, where most of the European meetings are, we often use the Jolly hotels, because they are conveniently located. I only speak English, so I don’t want to be stuck out of the way and get myself lost. In the US, I always get put in a hotel airport, because that’s where we have our meetings. I’ve been to Dallas five times and never been to the city but I could tell you all about the Dallas Fort Worth Marriott. It’s the same with Chicago. I’ve been there three times. People ask me what the city is like and I tell them I don’t know.

You must have some funny tales from your trips?

Ha, yes. Like everyone I’ve been cheated by every taxi driver in Europe, going on scenic rather than direct routes. I used to be based in Asia in a previous job and you’ve got to be careful where you eat in China. Local hosts take a sadistic pleasure out of giving you something inedible and watching you try to eat it. I’ve been in restaurants with Chinese businessmen, swigging down litres of coke to try to swallow something foul. The Chinese food there tastes nothing like it does at home. I once had to live off Mars bars in the mini bar for a week. Thank God for McDonalds though, which is the same wherever you go. I wouldn’t go into one at home, but in China their burgers tasted heavenly.

Any near misses?

Only one. I was once on a flight to San Francisco when the plane touched down at the airport and then did an almost vertical take off because it had to jump out of the way of an aircraft which had crossed the runway. It was like the launching of a space shuttle, we just went straight up and were sucked back into our chairs. You couldn’t believe how quiet it was in there. The words ‘deathly silence’ were very appropriate. When we stabilised, the pilot apologised but said he had no choice. He had incredible skill because a guy who was waiting for me at the airport and saw it all told me that it was so close to a crash that the other aircraft had tyre marks on the top of it.

Any final tips for travellers?

If you travel a lot, have a permanently packed suitcase, it saves a lot of time. I’ve got one with shirts, ties, trousers, underwear and a shaving kit and I can just grab it and go. Don’t take really big bags on as hand luggage, that’s very annoying for other passengers. Just check them in. If you’re on a long trip, don’t watch the map which shows you how far there is to go, because it looks like you never move and it’ll drive you mad. Apart from that, just try to accept travelling is part of the deal when you’re in business!

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