British businesses could save £27,000 a year by video conferencing

Research conducted by cloud-based online meeting platform LyteSpark has revealed that British businesses with teams and clients across the globe could bolster their balance sheets and save, on average, £27,209 per year on business trips abroad if they use video conferencing platforms.

LyteSpark analysed the average cost involved to travel from the UK to 20 business hubs around the world, taking into consideration return business-class trips, taxi costs to and from Central London and Heathrow, airport transfers to and from the hotel, taxi costs to and from the meeting, an overnight stay in a four-star hotel and the cost of a three-course dinner. This was then compared to the monthly cost of using the LyteSpark online meeting platform.

Businesses could make a significant saving of more than £4577 on every trip to San Francisco, Silicon Valley’s capital – the costliest trip to make globally. In other words, a trip to San Francisco is 116 times more than using video conferencing. Los Angeles is the second costliest business district to visit at £4386 per person per trip.

In South East Asia Singapore is the costliest city to visit, drawing up a total bill of £3055, while Tokyo comes in a close second at £2758.

Meanwhile in Europe, Stockholm is the dearest for those visiting from London, draining businesses £1318 per trip for a single person. An overnight trip to Geneva is the cheapest of the European hubs, only costing £675 per person.

Alex Hunte, co-founder, online meeting platform, LyteSpark commented: “These numbers are a wake-up call for any business. It may seem obvious that video conferencing offers a cheaper alternative to meetings, but businesses are still wasting thousands every year flying people around the world, perhaps not realising that technology has moved on to such an extent that it really does offer a viable, reliable and high-quality alternative. Every penny counts, and while meetings in person can sometimes be vital, they aren’t necessarily needed on such a regular basis.

“Video conferencing is a key tool that can ensure businesses remain profitable, maximise their resources, maintain productivity and contribute towards health and wellbeing of employees.

“State-of-the-art online meeting platforms are no longer clumsy and complex. They are now designed to be intuitive, ensuring they are merely an extension of day-to-day communications. Nobody has to wait days or weeks to discuss pressing matters that can now be resolved or actioned within minutes.”