Aisha Battersby will head up Stage and Screen in the UK

Stage and Screen Travel Services – an expanding niche brand within the worldwide Flight Centre Travel Group – has launched in the UK giving entertainment and sports industries access to specialised and global travel management services.

The UK debut of Stage and Screen, which was established in 1995 and operates in Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada, will take the brand’s reach to a global level and enable it to provide a worldwide travel solution to local clients in creative industries, music, television and film production, fashion, touring and sports.

Stage and Screen will initially focus on servicing entertainment and sports clients within the UK and Ireland, with a longer term view of expanding its services into Europe.

Stage and Screen UK general manager, Aisha Battersby, said the business offered the widest choice of airfares and specialist transport and hotel products, expertly chosen to reflect the bespoke needs of the entertainment and sports industries.

“Being part of the Flight Centre Travel Group sets us apart from other UK niche travel management companies,” she said.

“It enables us to leverage the group’s global purchasing power and negotiate air and hotel rates that are exclusive to the entertainment and sports sectors and available only through Stage and Screen.

“We offer transport and accommodation options that are best suited to the distinctive needs of clients in this market such as VIPs and celebrities, bands, film and production cast and crews, and sports teams.

“We also offer experience in managing touring productions and bands.

“To complement these services and streamline their management, our customers have access to best-in-market travel technologies including online booking tools, apps, and travel reporting tools.”

Aisha Battersby, who moves to Stage and Screen Travel Services after four years at Flight Centre’s specialist SME business travel division Corporate Traveller UK, latterly as head of client relationships, has a personal background in performing arts.

She will head up Stage and Screen UK with a team of three experienced travel managers.

All members of the team have worked in corporate travel in the UK, and/or with Stage and Screen’s businesses in the US and Australia.

“Stage and Screen understands the needs of these sectors extremely well,” Battersby said.

“Our people are not only experienced corporate travel managers, but offer previous or personal experience as performers, musicians, production specialists and the like.

“Our background in both the corporate travel and creative industries ensures our service is genuinely in touch with our clients’ needs.”