Focus took home two awards from The Business Travel People Awards on 15 September 2021.
The Duty of Care Initiative of the Year award was proudly collected by Focus’ CEO, Abby Penston, and was awarded for Focus’ repatriation service launched in March 2020. When borders were rapidly closing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Focus set up a repatriation service with 15 of their TMC Partners to help get stranded Britons home. Set up in 48 hours, the service was extremely successful and landed national press coverage including the Guardian newspaper.
The idea originated from Cilla Goldberger, Focus Board Director and MD of ABT-UK, where she had seen how colleagues in Israel deployed a similar service to help their stranded travellers.
Penston said, ‘The definition of Duty of Care is: a moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others – and this describes our TMC Partners in a nutshell. They have the natural passion to support and help, and they came together as a Partnership to deliver award-winning services’
Focus’ Partnership Project Manager, Dani Ives, also collected a prestigious award. Originally shortlisted for the ‘Rising Star’ award, the judges felt that Dani had already developed a well-established and respected career in the business travel industry, and therefore suggested to the organisers, The Business Travel Magazine, that a new award be created to recognise her entry and achievements.
Penston commented, ‘Dani joined the Partnership in January 2020 as our Events Manager but when the pandemic hit only two months later, we quickly saw how adaptable Dani was and especially during the crisis. She shows a willingness to support and help, in an industry which she has a true passion for. This attitude has been such a benefit to us all when we have needed it the most, and this recognition is very much well deserved. I am extremely proud of Dani’
Ives said, ‘I am completely humbled and grateful to be given this award, and I share this with my Focus community as they are the ones who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to shine’.
Earlier in the year Focus’ CEO Abby Penston also took home the ITM Resilience award which again is a testament to the work carried out for the Partnership.