It’s great to be back on the road, traveling for business again after such a long hiatus.
In recent months, Abyss managing director Richard Nelson has had the pleasure of revisiting global cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Singapore and Munich on business, all of which were closed to international travellers during the pandemic.
“It is clear that, despite the shift to online meetings and remote working, many people are eager to be in the presence of other human beings while conducting top-level, complex business discussions,” said Nelson.
He continues: “We became much more comfortable with online meetings during the pandemic, so this will have an impact in reducing the need for some business travel, particularly for general follow-up meetings, which will be great for our overall carbon footprint. But it is still essential to meet face-to-face (F2F), especially when introducing and discussing intangible services, such as architecture, engineering, planning and other consultancy services, for the first time with clients for large-scale projects.
“Not to mention you need to see and walk the sites in the property, design and construction industry. You can take all the photos and videos you want, but nothing beats seeing it in real life to really understand and feel a place,” he adds.
“And let’s not forget chemistry,” he continues. “It’s extremely difficult to built a real rapport with a client online when it’s your first meeting. You and the client want to test the potential strength of the relationship in those first meetings, and there’s an obvious disconnect that gets in the way of that initial bridge-building.”
In his role as Chair of the Institute of Directors London Property and Built Environment Group, Nelson has also seen a strong desire to get back to F2F learning and networking.
“At the IoD, when the first lockdown came, we had several live events planned that had to quickly be converted to online events,” he said. “We tried to include breakout rooms for networking, to enable people to keep in touch and get that connection they were looking for, but it just was not as satisfying or productive as F2F learning and networking.”
Despite a recent rise in Covid-19 infection rates, Nelson has no plans to stop travelling, unless required: “I’ve had my fourth jab now, as well as my own Covid-19 infection last summer, so I should be fairly resistant, although I still wear a mask anytime I’m in enclosed crowded places, such as on public transport.
“The next few months will see me back in Spain and Portugal, as well as trips to New York and the Middle East.
“The first quarter of the new year will feature several trips to key European cities, return trips to Asia and the Middle East, as well as possibly one or two key locations in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. And of course the US again, most likely New York.”
And what about that carbon footprint? “Front-line business development for complex projects will always require that F2F interaction, for the foreseeable future. We can start eliminating trips for business-as-usual and follow-up meetings, and we use airlines that have modernised their fleet, as well as those doing offset schemes, so we’re doing our part within our control,” he says.
Please contact us if you’d like to meet with Richard on his travels.