Hogg Robinson Group was a

corporate travel management Corporate travel management is the function of managing a company’s strategic approach to travel (travel policy), the negotiations with all vendors, day-to-day operation of the corporate travel program, traveler safety and security, credit-car ...

company. It was acquired by American Express Global Business Travel in July 2018.

History

Hogg Robinson Group was established in 1845, by brothers in law Francis Hogg, a young wine merchant, and Augustus Robinson, an insurance broker. The partnership developed mercantile and insurance interests from offices in Birchin Lane in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. Its travel business was established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. By 1984, it was one of the four largest travel agency operators in the United Kingdom, and included the chains ''Wakefield Fortune'' and ''Blue Star'', as well as the shops of Hogg Robinson. In June 1993, the retail division was sold to Airtours (later

MyTravel Group MyTravel Group plc was a British, global travel group headquartered in Rochdale, England. It was founded in 1972 as Airtours Group. The group included two in-house airlines, MyTravel Airways UK and MyTravel Airways Scandinavia, and various t ...

). Airtours merged it with Pickfords Travel, acquired by Airtours from

Pickfords Pickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of Pickfords Move Management Ltd. The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies, although the similar ...

in September 1992, to form Going Places (later Thomas Cook Group). In 1997, new chairman Neville Bain led the sale of Hogg Robinson's transport division and the acquisition of two business travel operations. In June 1998, it acquired 51% of Hider Travel of Canada. In June 2000, chief executive David Radcliffe led a £232 million management buyout funded by Schroder Ventures (now

Permira Permira is a global investment firm. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with assets under management of €60+ billion. The Permira funds have made approximately 300 private equity investments in four key sectors: Technology, Consumer, Ser ...

). Hogg Robinson divested of various of its insurance broking businesses in 2001. In October 2006, the company expanded in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. In April 2007, the company expanded its office space in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. In March 2012, the company acquired Spendvision. In February 2015, it was rebranded as Fraedom. In May 2017, the company acquired eWings.com, a travel management company for small to medium sized companies. In February 2018, the company sold Fraedom to

Visa Inc. Visa Inc. (; stylized as ''VISA'') is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded cred ...

for $195 million. On July 19, 2018, American Express Global Business Travel acquired the company for approximately £400 million.

References

{{Authority control British companies disestablished in 2018 Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange British companies established in 1845