Contract Preparation
Preparation of Contracts
Contract Preparation - Overview
Each Irish supplier is sent an Abbey Group template contract (to apply to Abbey Ireland and Moloney & Kelly). The term of the contract depends on the previous year’s contract e.g. some hotel contracts begin on 01 January and some begin on 01 April. The layout of the template contract varies by supplier type but the terms & conditions are standard within each supplier type.
Contract Preparation – accommodation suppliers
Hotel contracts are the most complex of all contracts we issue. Before sending a template contract to an Irish hotel, we must ensure the following is correct:
We had a contract in place for the previous year (as a base for negotiating)
The term of the current contract begins immediately after the term of the previous contract ends
The name, address (and Master Supplier if applicable) are inserted in the template
The breakdown of seasons, days of week etc is replicated from the previous year’s contract. There is a separate table for group rates and FIT rates OR there is one table for both rates (replicated from the previous year’s contract)
The Single Room Supplement is inserted as a column or as a row (replicated from the previous year’s contract)
If a group allocation or FIT allocation is in place with the hotel, the relevant information (days of week, months applicable, number of rooms, release period etc) is inserted into a table in the contract, see below:
Contract Preparation – visitor attractions, activities, entertainment venues
Before sending a template contract to an Irish visitor attraction, activity etc, we must ensure the following:
We had a contract in place for the previous year (as a base for negotiating)
The term of the current contract begins immediately after the term of the previous contract ends
The name of the supplier is inserted in the template
The breakdown of seasons (if any) is replicated from the previous year’s contract
The list of services provided by the supplier is inserted into the template contract (for ease of completion by the supplier) – see below an example
We do try to put a 2 year contract in place, where possible. Some suppliers will agree to this, some will only do a 1 year contract.
Contract Preparation – coach companies
Meetings are held annually (in Q4) with our key coach company suppliers, to discuss the previous season, the coming season and to agree rates for the coming season.
In advance of each meeting, we prepare the following information:
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Financial turnover for current year and previous years, broken down by month and by department
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Feedback received from clients and guides (and scores out of 5)
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Comments from the Customer Care teams
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The previous 2 contracts
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Product Analysis report, showing all bookings during the year, by service type and by coach size
After each meeting, and assuming agreement has been reached on rates, an Excel document is completed and sent to the coach company for signing. See below the template.
We do try to put a 2 year contract in place, where possible. Some suppliers will agree to this, some will only do a 1 year contract, due to uncertainty in relation to insurance costs, fuel costs, staff shortages etc.
Contract Preparation – guides
Most guides are freelance. We do work with one guiding agency – Beatrices Guiding Service – who we meet with each year to discuss rates for the following season.
Guide contracting is a two-step process.
Step 1: an email is sent to each guide with our proposed rates for the following season inserted into a Word document. See below an example. The guide is given a finite amount of time to reply to our email e.g. 4 weeks.
Step 2: if we do not receive a reply from the guide within the time allowed, we presume the rates have been agreed from their side and we proceed to get the rates loaded by Data Entry.
We do try to put a 2 year contract in place, where possible. Some guides will agree to this, some will only do a 1 year contract.