Interview: Airport retail staff provider pivots business to mitigate pandemic impact

Interview: Airport retail staff provider pivots
business to mitigate pandemic impact
Suppliers of temporary staff to the airport retail environment have inevitably been heavily hit by the knock-on
effects of the COVID-19 virus. The Moodie Davitt Report Senior Business Editor Mark Lane found out how
Team Spirits, one of the leading UK players in this field, is coping with the devastating fall in air passenger
numbers. The company’s Head of Travel Retail Andy Mason provides the answers.

The Moodie Davitt Report: How does Team Spirits operate in the travel retail channel?

Andy Mason: We provide temporary staffing for the travel retail industry. It’s a specialist business, in which
we become the face of our brand partners, demonstrating the best service and knowledge to delight the
customer. We deal directly with travel retailers and a large number of brands providing cover for promotional
work, experiential work and counter cover.

A Team Spirits crew representing the Valentino brand in a World Duty Free store at London
Stansted Airport

We have also worked recently with British Airways in their First Class and Concorde lounges. This includes
providing staff for experiential events with Jo Malone, Harvey Nichols, Amex and Bvlgari.

Can you describe how Team Spirits was initially impacted by COVID-19, and the changes you’ve had to
make, as the pandemic spread across the world?

The first impact was on Chinese destinations. We provide a large number of Chinese language speakers in
airports and it did of course impact the number that we could place in terminals. As the impact of COVID-19
developed and travel restrictions and lockdowns extended across the globe and the subsequent impact to air
travel, the effect obviously became very significant.

Andy Mason: “Our staff on the sales floor provide a face for the brand and a personality that a digital medium will never
provide”

During this time, we have taken measures to stay in touch with our teams, understanding the financial and
mental pressures they are experiencing and working with them to overcome these challenges.

Last year we invested in a new back office system that provides accurate real-time data on our team activity and
performance. This is linked to client invoicing and payroll. We have taken this downturn as an opportunity to
test and embed this cutting-edge system.

Additionally, we developed a new training app for the team, with 1,200 downloads so far. Using the contacts we
created and the content we discovered in the recent Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo, we have
uploaded huge amounts of training material that our teams are viewing. Within two weeks of launching the
content, our teams have successfully completed over 1,000 training sessions.

Following on from this, we have created a sign-off assessment to check understanding, so our teams will be
ready with the most current products and services when the business comes back. We have also created
incentives to drive activity on the training app, rewarding our teams for improving their product knowledge.

Staff representing Team Spirits in World Duty Free at London Stansted Airport, prior to the onset of COVID-19 restricti

Additional changes to our business model include offering services to other divisions within the airport
including boutique stores, PRM services and Meet and Greet. We have also decided to use this time to increase
our future market share by expanding our services to Edinburgh and Birmingham Airports.

One of your major clients in the UK is Dufry, which has obviously had to vastly reduce its operational
expenses in the face of fiscal challenges. How has your relationship with the world’s biggest travel retailer
been affected?

Team Spirits has worked with Dufry since the early 1990s, and we remain strong business partners, despite the
difficulties this year. While passenger volumes have been down, we still maintain the relationship and constant
dialogue with Dufry, our biggest client.

“It’s important to remember that great luxury service involves a personal one-to-one experience
      with the customer” – Team Spirits Head of Travel Retail Andy Mason

Until this year we were seeing continual growth in our work with them in UK airports, but the closure of non-
essential stores has halted this. Dufry knows that when passenger numbers return, we will be here focused and
ready, more than ever, for our staff to delight the passengers in their stores.

As a result of COVID-19, has the nature of the work of your airport retail staff changed forever – in
particular how your brand ambassadors interact with customers?

Airport retailing has certainly changed! Social distancing has obviously been integrated into everything we do.
The safety of our team and customers is our top priority and of course we follow all the COVID-19 guidelines.

Team Spirits brand ambassadors – complete with masks – still have a key role to play in the
COVID-19 era and beyond

The first couple of weeks of wearing a mask felt very strange for our staff. Losing the facial expression from the
customer has made it harder for us to interact with them, but I think our teams have adapted well.

It’s important to remember that great luxury service involves a personal one-to-one experience with the

customer and the COVID-19 impact has meant we have had to invest in increased levels of training to continue
to provide this unique experience. The challenge is to ensure that we make the customer feel special within this
new environment.

Do the staff you provide to airport retail really remain as relevant, as the travel retail industry inevitably
pivots to more digital methods of travelling consumer engagement?

Although digital now has a part to play, airport retailing is not only about maximising commercial return – it
gives brands an international shop window to showcase their products and services. Our staff on the sales floor
provide a face for the brand and a personality that a digital medium will never provide.

How do you assess the current level of business in UK airports and the signs for recovery?

The number of staff we place in airports was increasing and a natural confidence was growing but the
reinstatement of lockdown in the UK is another setback.

Saying that, December will naturally be a stronger month for the airport and if the lockdown is lifted by then we
should see some activity in the terminals. The acid test will be in January, when travel retail naturally slows.
The impact of restrictions and confidence will be exacerbated, and we will understand a better picture of what
2021 has in store.

A Team Spirits brand ambassador extols the virtues of Yves Saint Laurent Libre products at London Gatwick Airport

It will be a long time before we will see the number of staff in the airports similar to 2019 levels. The business
has changed and it’s about how we can adapt to the changing environment and conditions that will enable us to
achieve a successful business performance next year. With the recent announcements about vaccines, I am sure
that the business will grow with the rising public confidence.

We understand you’ve made changes to your business model, to develop new lines of work outside the
travel retail industry as this difficult year has progressed. Can you tell us more about that?

Although travel retail remains the main focus, we have identified work streams that focus on other business
developments that are less dependent on air travel.

We have taken our skills and experience in temporary staff placement and Team Spirits is now working with
brands on the High Street. The long-term strategy will be to find a balance between travel retail activity and
other retail segments.

Team Spirits staff pose with customers during a Jelly Belly confectionery activation at
London Stansted Airport

All in all, it has been a very challenging time with difficult business decisions. We hope that with these changes
to our business model and in our organisational structure we are well positioned to deliver our forecasted
projections for next year.

How do you view the medium and long-term prospects for the travel retail aspects of your business?

The million dollar question! Cautiously would be my response. The outlook for 2021 is constantly changing –
with so many factors affecting passenger projections, it’s difficult to say. Internally we have created three
forecast models projecting a low, middle or high performance outlook for the near future.

Team Spirits’ staff still have a central role to play in promoting brands in the airport retail
environment

My medium-term assessment is that it will still be difficult and slowly improving for agencies involved in
airport retail. Easter will be the best indicator for this; the summer schedule will start at this time and we hope
increased activity will be seen from brands.

I absolutely believe the long-term prospects will be good for Team Spirits. The changes we have made put us in
a strong position to continue to deliver the world-class service that our clients expect.