Success Stories
Business owner Tommy Clark
Company Grassroot Soccer
About Charitable organization that uses the power of soccer in the fight against HIV and AIDS, providing African youth with the knowledge, life skills and support to live HIV–free.
Grassroot Soccer
Founded by former professional soccer players in 2002, Grassroot Soccer trains African soccer stars, coaches, teachers and peer educators in the world's most HIV–affected countries to deliver an interactive HIV prevention and life skills curriculum to youth. Translating research into action and leveraging the excitement around the 2010 World Cup, Grassroot Soccer attracts and engages young people through schools, community outreach and media.
Grassroot Soccer had three primary goals:
1. Promote improved awareness of HIV/AIDS–related health risks among youth.
2. Facilitate the capacity of community educators to deliver, monitor and sustain HIV/AIDS prevention programming.
3. Increase the update of HIV/AIDS–related services through Grassroot Soccer's program of voluntary counseling and testing tournaments.
Tommy Clark, founder of Grassroot Soccer, used the British Airways Face–to–Face program to fly between Boston and London and meet with Bobby Sager of the Sager Foundation. The two formed a relationship and created the Hope Ball Project. The new partnership developed and delivered 10,000 indestructible Hope Balls to African communities, replacing the balls of garbage that kids of South Africa were playing with. All it took was the right face–to–face meeting to make a difference for one organization and thousands of children across Africa.
Business owner Judi Henderson–Townsend
Company Mannequin Madness
About A mannequin liquidator specializing in recycling mannequins for national retailers and preventing added landfill.
Mannequin Madness
A liquidator focused on recycling mannequins for national retailers, Mannequin Madness aimed to keep mannequins out of the landfill when retailers remodeled or closed locations. But when the economic downturn forced them to find new revenue streams, they actually found an overseas partner that helped expand their product and service offering.
Having a presence in London was important to owner Judi Henderson–Townsend. In order to serve the needs of her ever–expanding global retail clients, Judi and her team are making frequent international trips to market their mannequin recycling and rental services.
While telecommunications made it possible to easily communicate, dealing with visual people in a visual medium placed an added importance on in-person meetings. Some things, particularly as they relate to mannequins, just could not be explained clearly without a face–to–face visit.
With the free travel provided by British Airways, Judi was able to set up a meeting with London–based Mannakin Ltd., which offered a similar service and was looking for a United States–based distribution partner. In addition to its existing services, the new partnership sprung a series of new ventures such as competitions and developing resource guides for the mannequin industry. Through the Face–to–Face program, Mannequin Madness became able to reach retailers on both sides of the Atlantic and boost its business, which might not have happened without a meeting in–person.
Business owner Morgen Newman
Company IdeaPaint
AboutPaint product that turns any wall or smooth surface into a dry-erase whiteboard, creating an environment to collaborate, interact and fully explore creativity.
IdeaPaint
As a young start-up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, IdeaPaint focused on launching its new dry-erase paint product, company, brand, and even category in the United States. With an abundance of U.S. corporations and educational institutions in need of a product that turned their walls into whiteboards, the company remained busy. As of early 2009, the three-man company had no plans to sell their product internationally. But things can change quickly. Especially when this small, rapidly growing, cash–sensitive start–up began to get international customers and distributors asking for its product.
Establishing international distribution became a top priority for IdeaPaint. The company had to be able to serve customers within the office, school and home markets across Europe, Japan, Australia, Brazil, India, South Africa and elsewhere.
Company Co–founder Morgen Newman had a distributor interested in Australia, but the small start–up could not afford the trip. As a contest winner in the British Airways Face–to–Face program, Morgen was able to fly to Sydney, Australia, and meet with his prospective distributor. But that was just the beginning. Morgen didn't just lock in the deal he flew 10,000 miles for, but was also able to secure additional meetings once he hit the ground in Sydney. The results were astounding. One trip developed into three distribution deals, turning a small, domestic start–up into an international sensation.
Business owners Alasdair Clements and Nathan Withrington
Company GoCar
About A tour guide, a talking car, a copilot, and a local on wheels in the form of the first–ever GPS–guided storytelling car.
GoCar
As a unique San Francisco–based tour company, GoCar believed that tourists should be able to experience the personality of the city in a more unusual way. Founders Alisdair Clements and Nathan Withrington developed a fun little car that has its own GPS, which points out popular tourist attractions along the way, delivering a high–quality, personal tour.
In 2009, the duo wanted to bring their business overseas. They planned to grow presence in Spain, specifically Madrid and grow the global GoCar brand by opening additional locations in Europe and Asia.
But in order to establish new franchise cities, they needed to look at specific tourist attractions, research local history and survey geographical areas for suitability. Not to mention meet with local businesses and potential retail locations. A task that just wasn't possible via conference calls.
With the British Airways Face–to–Face program, GoCar's biggest obstacle was removed in an instant. The team was able to focus on the merits of each location, rather than having to deal with the logistics of coordinating their travel. The in–person meetings allowed them to address the immediate issues, and delve deeper into the minutiae of how the business is running. But most importantly, Nathan and Alasdair were able to give cities around the world a boost with the excitement and personality of their tour, which could have only happened being there in person.
Business owners John and Erin O’Sullivan
Company Benchmark Clothing
About Manufacturer of high–quality, flame–resistant garments such as jeans, sweaters and button–down shirts.
Benchmark Clothing
John and Erin O'Sullivan come from two different worlds, professionally. There isn't much overlap between John’s background in industrial engineering and Erin’s work as a fashion designer. However, the married couple used their collective knowledge to manufacture high–quality clothing like jeans, sweaters and shirts with one big difference: their clothes can withstand temperatures four times the surface of the sun.
With products geared towards oil companies, the petrochemical industry, and electricians, their clothing serves the purpose of a hard hat. So like everything in the safety industry, a single manufacturing glitch can be a devastating blow to both the consumer and the business.
As a manufacturing problem at their plant in India began to arise, Benchmark was able to take advantage of the British Airways Face–to–Face program to avoid what could have been big trouble. Benchmark immediately set up an in-person meeting with their management in India. What would have taken four weeks in back–and–forth via phone and email got done in one meeting on–site. More importantly, the India trip also opened the couple's eyes to a new goal for the coming years: expanding their business around the world.
