Addison Lee has rolled out its booking platform across the globe, allowing UK customers to book ground transportation across the USA, EMEA and APAC.

The platform now spans more than 40 key business travel destinations across these global regions, including New York, Paris and Singapore, with further locations due to go live.

Customers can book through Addison Lee’s app, website or dedicated contact centre, choosing from private hire, taxi and executive car services to suit their needs in each destination.

The global rollout is delivered through a combination of fleet vehicles from parent company ComfortDelGro Group along with a growing network of partner integrations.

The expanded service streamlines international travel by offering UK customers a single trusted provider for ground transportation worldwide. By choosing partners based on expectations for service quality, reliability and professionalism, the service helps ensure customers receive a consistent experience wherever they travel.

New research commissioned by Addison Lee reveals that demand for business travel is increasing, with more than half (52%) of international business travellers saying they have travelled more frequently in the past year.

Many are adamant that there is a clear return on investment. Eight in 10 (80%) say international travel helps them build relationships that wouldn’t otherwise be possible while a similar proportion (78%) believe face-to-face meetings abroad produce better business outcomes than virtual alternatives.

But this comes at a cost to productivity. Business travellers currently lose a full working week (39 hours) per year to unproductive transit time. And the experience is rarely seamless – four in five (80%) rely on multiple separate providers and platforms to piece together one international journey and 43% say it is difficult to find transport providers abroad who meet their standards.

The service aims to alleviate this business travel friction by giving UK customers access to a streamlined, consistent and reliable international ground transport experience.

Wesley Bishop, chief customer officer at Addison Lee, commented: “Our customers have told us they would benefit from a single platform that brings together the long and complex international journeys that remain so valuable to businesses. Managing travel across multiple cities, countries and suppliers often creates friction and unnecessary complexity – and that is exactly what we’re aiming to reduce, so travellers can spend less time on logistics and more time on the purpose of the trip itself.”

Addison Lee’s research also shows that six in 10 (62%) say that trips now feel higher stakes than before hybrid working took hold, meaning there is less margin for error. Business travellers are also clear on what would make the difference. More than three in 10 (34%) say a single platform to manage all elements of their trip would improve their travel experience, while a similar proportion (33%) cite the importance of being able to work more productively in transit – rising to 44% for those at C-suite and board level.

Bishop added: “By combining the convenience of a single booking platform with a carefully selected network of local partners who share our commitment to quality, reliability and customer service, our job is to give customers confidence that the journey will be handled, with the same standards and accountability they expect from us in London, wherever they land.”