The power of international footprints for Flight Centre

“A lot of people think of Flight Centre as the red and white stores, but we are so much more than that,” said the company’s global treasurer Richard Humphreys as he reflected upon on the business’ journey over the last few years.

Over the past 40 years, Flight Centre has grown from a single Australian retail store to over 30+ travel retail and wholesale brands across 25 countries, as well as a corporate travel management network that spans more than 90 countries.

With HSBC’s support, Flight Centre has been able to adapt to challenges and implement innovative changes. Richard Humphreys has been at the forefront of the relationship with HSBC, which began in 2008 and has grown across the globe.

Changes in the company’s business model were tested during the pandemic when they faced uncertainty. The solution? Having a global banking partner that was able to look at things holistically.

Our Australian Global Payments Solutions team took the lead in managing the pandemic’s impact on the group, collaborating closely with HSBC’s UK and Europe team to determine which solutions could be implemented in specific locations.

“We supported the business with a working capital solution in the UK which supported the funding provided to the Group managed out of Australia says Richard Pye, HSBC Relationship Director

“We gathered information from various markets where HSBC operates, primarily in the UK, Europe, and North America, and provided updates to Flight Centre’s senior management team”.

Humphreys added: “We think of ourselves as a global business. Whatever market we operate in, we expect to have the same functionality and access to products, ability to pay people and collect money, as we do in every other country. It is critical that we have the right banking partner there.”

“As Flight Centre emerged from the pandemic, digital transformation became a priority, reshaping payments, collections, and business operations. To stay competitive, they adopted cutting-edge technologies and aligned their treasury strategies with global best practices. HSBC, as a trusted advisor, supported this transformation with innovative solutions.

“We started to take a consultative approach to our relationship with Flight Centre, and the opportunity for change led to a transformation in the travel group’s treasury journey.

“They challenge HSBC every single day about the ways that they want to take Flight Centre's business forward. For HSBC it has been about how can we do something differently that really enhances that proposition and that relationship,” said Pye.

The uncertainty caused by the pandemic made Flight Centre realise the need for “better control” of their payment processes and clearer visibility of cash flow, according to Humphreys.

Our solution was creating a payments factory for Flight Centre that efficiently consolidated all non-travel payments in a single location.

James Conway, HSBC’s global client advisor, was part of the team that developed the solution. He noted: “The collaboration with HSBC’s global teams enabled us to swiftly implement new solutions like the Payment Factory, which controls cash flow. Flight Centre relied on HSBC for expertise in treasury management, leadership, and strategic planning.”

Humphreys added: “Managing payments is a critical priority for us. By integrating all our systems in one place, we avoid having disconnected or overlapping processes. This integration helps us manage payments and fully leverage our cash flow.”

Trust is the glue holding together the strong relationship between HSBC and Flight Centre.

“The relationship with HSBC is one of our strongest and most trusted relationships as a business,” said Humphreys. “It is an integrated, holistic relationship with lots of different tentacles across our business, but the trust is absolutely critical to me - and the long-term thinking.”