Expert Comment · London · 7 April 2026
UK businesses should review their executive travel security arrangements as a matter of governance rather than crisis response, VIP Protection Services has said.
“Most travel policies we review cover flights, hotels and expenses in detail and threat in one paragraph. That paragraph is the part an insurer or a coroner will read.” — spokesperson, VIP Protection Services
The duty-of-care position
UK employers must take reasonably practicable steps to protect employees from foreseeable harm, including while travelling for work. Where an itinerary involves higher-risk jurisdictions, late-night movement, cash handling or public exposure, the assessment should be documented and the mitigation recorded.
In practice the test is evidential: can the organisation show it identified the risk, considered proportionate mitigation and briefed the traveller?
- • Documented pre-travel risk assessment per itinerary type
- • Traveller briefing acknowledged in writing
- • Vetted ground transport rather than street-hailed vehicles
- • Check-in schedule and named escalation contact
- • Tested crisis and repatriation procedure
Where policies typically fail
The three recurring gaps are ground transport, accommodation selection and communication. Executives are frequently left to arrange their own airport transfers, hotels are booked purely on convenience and cost, and nobody knows who receives the call at 03:00 local time.
A fourth gap is seniority bias: policies apply rigorously to junior staff and are waived for the executives who carry the highest exposure.
Proportionate measures
Protective travel measures scale. At the lightest level, a vetted security chauffeur for airport transfers and evening movement removes most realistic risk at modest cost. At medium level, a single travelling close protection officer manages route planning, venue reconnaissance and arrival discipline.
Full team deployment with advance reconnaissance is reserved for genuinely elevated threat, and a good provider will say so rather than upsell.
Reviewing the policy
A useful review takes half a day: map typical itineraries, identify the highest-exposure legs, check what documentation exists, test the escalation chain, and agree pre-approved measures so that decisions are not made ad hoc under time pressure.
The output should be a short, usable document that a travelling executive will actually read, not a fifty-page manual.
Related services
Frequently asked questions
What is executive travel security?
A set of measures protecting travelling executives, including pre-travel risk assessment, vetted ground transport, secure accommodation selection, briefings, check-in procedures and, where justified, a travelling close protection officer.
Is travel security a legal requirement in the UK?
Employers must take reasonably practicable steps against foreseeable harm to employees, including during work travel. The specific measures depend on assessed risk.
How much does a travelling close protection officer cost?
The cost of a travelling close protection officer is set by how many officers are needed, for how long, where, and the assessed level of risk, plus any vehicles or travel. We send an itemised written quotation after a short confidential assessment, usually the same working day.
What is the cheapest effective travel security measure?
Vetted ground transport with a trained security chauffeur, combined with a documented check-in routine, removes a disproportionate share of realistic risk.
How often should travel policy be reviewed?
Annually as a minimum, and immediately after any incident, near miss or material change in destination risk.
Notes to editors
VIP Protection Services is an SIA-licensed close protection and private security company headquartered in London and operating nationwide. All operational officers hold valid Security Industry Authority licences and are screened to BS 7858.
020 3488 5714
enquiries.vip.protection.service@mail.com
This release may be reproduced with attribution to VIP Protection Services and a link to the original release.