Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based Founder operating in the Travel space. If you think a Founder is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Misha Gopaul
Founder of FATMAP
Misha is a serial entrepreneur with nearly two decades of experience founding and running successful technology companies. He started his first business, Fabric Technologies, building computers in his bedroom which grew to a team of over 120 people before a merger with a publicly listed competitor in 2011. He plays an active role in the European tech eco-system as an advisor, angel investor and mentor and currently serves on the Board at NEX Abide Financial and Workplace Fabric. In 2013, a chance meeting with adventurer and self-professed mapping geek, David Cowell sparked the beginning of his most ambitious project to date, combining his passion for mountains and technology – to build FATMAP, the world’s leading adventure platform and the most precise and detailed 3D map of the outdoors – a 1:1 map in virtual reality. Competing with established mapping giants has called for an innovative approach to business models and partnerships. Using gaming technology and disruptive models from the tech and music industry FATMAP is on a mission to map the world in human scale detail and build the highest resolution computational map of our planet.
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About CME Group Regulatory Reporting, FATMAP: FATMAP is an outdoor adventure platform for web & mobile.
Rami Zeidan
Co-Founder & CEO of Life House
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About Life House: Life House is a vertically integrated hotel software and management platform on the mission to make hotels operationally autonomous.
Stefan Hobl
CFO & Co-Founder of Butter.co.uk
Stefan Hobl joined Butter.co.uk as CFO & Co-Founder in 2017.
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About Butter.co.uk: Butter lets you spread the cost of shopping from any online store with a simple monthly instalment plan. Download the app now!
Clive Jackson
Founder & Chairman of Victor
Clive Jackson is the founder and Chairman of Victor.
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About Victor: Victor is a London, UK-based private jet charter marketplace.
Nicolas Brusson
Co-Founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar
Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer in October 2016, Nicolas oversaw BlaBlaCar’s global operations and international growth as Chief Operating Officer since 2011. He led the company’s corporate development, overseeing eight acquisitions, expansion to twenty markets, and three successive rounds of fundraising. Nicolas is a strong advocate of agile structures that allow quick iterations in fast-growing environments. He is also a supporter of autonomous local teams and acqui-hires, a strategy he implemented to expand BlaBlaCar’s footprint on a global scale. Nicolas is a regular speaker at leading international conferences and in the media, where he comments on the European startup scene, innovative growth strategies, and mobility. Prior to joining BlaBlaCar, Nicolas worked for several startups in Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom, before moving on to executive and investor roles, including spending time as a Venture Capitalist at Amadeus Capital Partners in London. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Optics from Ecole Supérieure d’Optique and a Masters in Applied Physics from Paris XI University. Nicolas is also an active angel investor and tweets @nbrusson. Nicolas holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MSc in Optics from the Ecole Superieure d’Optique and an MSc in Applied Physics from Paris XI University.
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About BlaBlaCar, Deliveroo, Doctolib, SIDE Capital, Stripe, Zenaton: BlaBlaCar is a long distance carpooling platform that connects drivers with empty seats and passengers to share travel costs.
Jasper Dykes
Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Fly Now Pay Later
An experienced and highly operational Chief Executive with a successful track record in consumer lending and financial services across US, UK and European markets with specific leadership skills for creating, growing and developing high growth businesses. Approved Person by 2 financial regulators: PRA/FCA & Central Bank of the Republic of Lithuania, with extensive sector experience within alternative payments, consumer lending & debt capital markets having raised in excess of $200m throughout his career to date.
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About Fly Now Pay Later: Fly Now Pay Later is a fintech company that helps consumers split the cost of their travel in monthly installments.
Stuart Jeffrey
Executive Director and Co Founder of Fly Now Pay Later
Stuart Jeffrey is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Fly Now Pay Later.
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About Fly Now Pay Later, Krzana, Movebubble: Fly Now Pay Later is a fintech company that helps consumers split the cost of their travel in monthly installments.
Alexander Limpert
Co-Founder and CEO of GuestReady
Before launching GuestReady, Alex was a Country Managing Director in Taiwan and Philippines at Rocket Internet owned foodpanda, a global food delivery company. Prior to this, he was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman in London, where he advised leading companies across a variety of industries including travel and hospitality. He holds an MSc with Distinction from London School of Economics (LSE) and a BA in Business Administration from University of St.Gallen (HSG). Alex has travelled to more than 50 countries for business and leisure, and therefore understands the needs of the modern business traveller and how any property can be turned into a guest-ready Airbnb home.
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About GuestReady: GuestReady is a platform for real estate management with a focus on short-term rentals.
Louis Tag
Founder / CEO of Passnfly
Louis is a serial-entrepreneur and founder of multiple tech-based start-up companies such as PASSNFLY, Helicopters Worldwide or Fast-Track. A visionary entrepreneur, from Germany, currently residing in London. To those who know him, it’s no surprise that WIRED named him Top100 Entrepreneurs in Europe. Helicopters worldwide (est. 2021) is already today a leading provider for heli-transfers. Users can book on partner sites door-to-door transfers combining heli+limo. WallStreetJournal calls PASSNFLY ”the check-in app for frequent travelers”. Louis says himself, that “My journey in business started with my first tech company at the age of 21, but not every youthful project came to prosper still it gave me what it took, to succeed at innovation.” His most popular initiative is a disruptive travel tech startup – PASSNFLY. “When I see an apparently overdue market gap I ask myself if the solution I envision could be useful on a daily basis and turn out to be a new trend. Airlines ask passengers to check-in themselves – 20+ clicks until the boarding pass. Making check-in a 1-click experience is what I believe to be useful for every of the 8 billion annual air passengers.” PASSNFLY provides what every passenger needs to fly – the boarding pass. Today PASSNFLY automated check-in service is available for most airlines worldwide. Customers are some of the world’s well-known travel brands. Investors and advisers are some of the leading heads from the travel and aviation industry. PASSNFLY provides seamless travel solutions for Passengers, Travel Distributors, Airlines and Airports around the globe. For more info visit http://www.passnfly.com Louis Tag, 37, is originally from Germany, where he studied law. With just 21 years age and while still studying, he built his first company. With his first startup and only 30k investment, he accomplished a 100x return on sales in less than a year. Since then he continues on the entrepreneurial path. When Louis is not working he enjoys running, reading, and golf. He is married to Elizabeth and has a daughter Violetta and a son Peter. The family lives between Munich, Barcelona and London – with Barcelona being their absolute favorite. Specialities: business plan, cash flow, executive management, finance, investments, leadership, travel, positioning, pricing, purchasing, data processing and encryption technologies, telematic infrastructures, accreditation technologies, aeronautical engineering, architecture of informatics and communication systems, research, risk analysis, sales, strategic planning, vision.
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About Helicopters Worldwide, Passnfly: Passnfly is a mobile application that provides users with automated multi-airline flight check-in solutions.
Callum Negus-Fancey
CEO & Founder of Pollen
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About Pollen: Pollen builds, curates, and delivers the best travel experiences.
Liam Negus-Fancey
Founder & President of Pollen
Pollen is a members-only community that curates and shares experiences for you and your friends to discover. As a marketplace of the best experiences in the world, our mission is to elevate lives by bringing people closer to the people and the things they love. From festivals, events, dining experiences, island escapes, and beyond, we want to help create unforgettable memories shared between friends old and new by allowing members to unlock a range of experiential rewards.
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About Pollen: Pollen builds, curates, and delivers the best travel experiences.
Ines Djelassi
CEO & Co-Founder of AirBetter
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About AirBetter, Lodgeo: AirBetter provides expertise in all travel and hospitality services.
Tom Valentine
Marketplaces CEO & Co-Founder of Secret Escapes
Secret Escapes has seen explosive growth since its formation in 2010, with turnover forecast to hit £100m in 2014. Tom Valentine, alongside his co-founder and CEO Alex Saint, has catapulted Secret Escapes into a well-known and respected brand in the UK, with a 60% net promoter score and 95% post-stay satisfaction. Much of the company’s success is down to a robust digital and TV acquisition framework, built and managed by Tom, which has allowed the company to confidently spend over £10m annually at a consistent, predictable and positive ROI. This has led to a profitable UK business and huge confidence in international expansion. Tom has scaled the team from less than 30 to over 100 across the UK, Germany, Sweden, Poland and the USA and recently secured GBP39m from Google’s venture arm to fuel global expansion plans.
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About Secret Escapes, Smart Pension: Secret Escapes is a members-only travel club offering discounted rates on luxury hotels and holidays in the UK.
Adam Ewart
Co-Founder & CEO of Send My Bag
Adam Ewart is Co-Founder & CEO at Send My Bag.
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About Send My Bag: Send My Bag provides affordable & convenient, domestic & international, door to door luggage delivery.
Cassandra Harris
Founder of Venturespring
Founder at Venturespring
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About Venturespring: A digital transformation firm and early growth venture capital fund that match makes corporates with game changing startups.
Ben Simpson
Founder & CEO of Easol
Ben Simpson is the Founder & CEO at Easol
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About Easol: The all-in-one platform to manage your experience business, on your terms.
Lisa Simpson
Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Easol
Lisa Simpson is the Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Easol
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About Easol: The all-in-one platform to manage your experience business, on your terms.
Matthew Luczynski
Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Office of Travala.com
Matthew Luczynski is a Tech & Marketing Entrepreneur, Strategic & Innovative Thinker, and the Founder of Travala.com. Book 2,200,000 hotels and homes worldwide with savings of up to 40%. Pay with 30 cryptos and credit card. Best price guaranteed and 24/7 Support. Matthew has worked on a number of start-ups within the travel space, with a focus on Fintech & Blockchain technology.
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About Travala.com: Travala.com, the world’s leading cryptocurrency-friendly hotel booking service with the best prices on 2 Million+ properties, worldwide.
Zack Sabban
Co-Founder and CEO of Festicket
While he was a student and later a banker in NYC and London, Zacharie traveled the world to fulfill his passion for live music. He attended countless festivals and concerts around the world where he realized the need for better access to information. His creativity, social network, and his amazing experience of music festivals are a competitive advantage for the growth of Festicket. Zacharie supervises all the operations and development of the company.
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About Festicket: Festicket is a marketplace to discover and book music festival tickets, accommodation, transfers and extras.
Blake Reddy
Founder and CEO of easyGuide
As a Sir Stelios Scholar, Blake graduated from Cass Business School in 2012 with a Masters in Banking and International Finance. Blake spent the next 6-years building an investment management firm in London before taking on a new venture with Sir Stelios with the objective of creating an end-to-end customer journey across the tourism industry.
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About easyGuide: Discover and book tickets to top attractions, activities, experiences, tours and theatre shows in your favourite locations around the world!
Aaron Gowell
Co-Founder and CEO of SilverRail Technologies
Aaron Gowell, Company Founder and CEO, SilverRail Technologies Prior to founding SilverRail in 2009, Aaron built one of the largest travel technology and distribution companies in the US: National Leisure Group (NLG), a $1 Billion ecommerce leader in vacations & cruise. NLG pioneered several early online travel technologies including the cruise industry’s first online booking platform and one of the first dynamic packaging systems. Previously, Aaron honed his survival skills in US Army’s 82nd Airborne and at global management consultancy Bain & Company. Aaron was also a founding member of General Catalyst Partners, a leading venture capital firm in Boston where he was most recently an Entrepreneur in Residence.
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About SilverRail Technologies: SilverRail offers best-in-class technical solutions that help railways and travel distributors easily connect with each other.
Will Phillipson
Co-Founder and COO of SilverRail Technologies
Will is the co-founder of SilverRail Technologies and driver behind SilverRail’s product. Will brings 15 years of travel technology and product experience in a number of successful companies. Prior to co-founding SilverRail, Will was the VP Product Strategy and technical lead for distribution platforms at ITA Software, which involved building a next-generation GDS platform for airline distribution, and advising on aspects of ITA’s forthcoming Airline Reservation, Inventory and re-accommodation Systems. Prior to the travel industry, Will started several companies focusing on document management, documents on demand and eventually digital rights management. Will has a computer engineering degree from McGill University and has served on various boards, including the Board of Governors of McGill University. Claim to fame: First solo airline trip to South Africa — at age 5. Since then he has circumnavigated this planet several times.
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About SilverRail Technologies: SilverRail offers best-in-class technical solutions that help railways and travel distributors easily connect with each other.
Manoj Ganapathy
Founder & CEO of SalesTrip
Proven entrepreneur solving real world business problems using technology. Previously built and sold Invoice IT to Salesforce.
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About SalesTrip: Expense management and travel booking system on Salesforce. Better track and justify expense spend with SalesTrip.
Richard Goodall
Founder of SalesTrip
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About PhiX Technologies, Precursive, SalesTrip: Expense management and travel booking system on Salesforce. Better track and justify expense spend with SalesTrip.
Anthony Collias
Co-Founder & CCO of Stasher
Anthony oversees business development and marketing at Stasher. Before co-founding Stasher, Anthony studied PPE at Oxford University and worked as a PPC specialist at Brainlabs. His interests include eating and complaining about being hungry…. Always.
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About Stasher, Treepoints: Stasher is the world’s first luggage storage network.
Jacob Wedderburn-Day
Co-Founder & CEO of Stasher
Entrepreneur, co-founder & CEO of Stasher.com. Studied at Oxford & UCL. Passionate about startups, economics, the sharing economy, game theory and football.
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About Stasher, Treepoints: Stasher is the world’s first luggage storage network.
Sam Ryan
Co-Founder & CEO of Zeelo
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About Zeelo: Zeelo is the smart bus platform for organizations, providing flexible turn-key, plug-in and SaaS transportation programs.
Philipp Mintchin
Co-Founder & CEO of Splyt
CEO & Founder of Splyt
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About Splyt: Splyt is a B2B mobility marketplace that connects institutional supply and demand for ground-based transport.
Yulia Dankova
Co-Founder of Splyt
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About Splyt: Splyt is a B2B mobility marketplace that connects institutional supply and demand for ground-based transport.
Stephen Mason
Co-Founder & CTO of Splyt
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About Splyt: Splyt is a B2B mobility marketplace that connects institutional supply and demand for ground-based transport.
Andrius Skerla
Co-Founder & Technical Director of Splyt
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About Splyt: Splyt is a B2B mobility marketplace that connects institutional supply and demand for ground-based transport.
Daniel Spinath
Founder & Managing Director of Crepeaffaire
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About Crepeaffaire, Entertainment Ventures Group International, Frizzenti, Liberation Cocktails, Tap: Crêpeaffaire offers freshly prepared crêpes, waffles, coffees and smoothies.
Richard Valtr
Founder of Mews
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About Mews: Mews is an innovative hospitality management cloud platform that empowers the modern hotelier to provide remarkable guest experiences.
Richard Downs
Founder and chief executive officer of Iglu Cruise
As Founder and CEO of Iglu.com Richard paved the way for Iglu to become the largest independent agent of ski and cruise holidays in the UK. Spearheading the company since 1998, Richard continues to motivate and inspire the growing and passionate teams behind Iglu’s UK and international presence.
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About Iglu Cruise: Iglu Cruise is an internet-based travel agency specializing in the sale of snowboarding and ski holidays, cruises and Christmas holidays.
Azmat Yusuf
Founder / CEO of Citymapper
Mr. Azmat Yusuf is a Founder at Citymapper Limited.Yusuf previously worked at Google, as well as in the venture capital and equities fields for international banks. He started the app in 2011 as a guide for Londoners to navigate the city’s bus network. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in both Electrical Engineering and Economics and received his MBA from INSEAD in 2009.
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About Citymapper: Citymapper is a transport app for cities.
Adrian Melrose
Co Founder & CEO of Inn Style Ltd
Adrian is a South African born Chartered Accountant who qualified at Deloitte. He is currently the co-founder, seed-investor and executive chairman of Inn Style Ltd, a startup that provides a cloud based admin and booking solution to owner managed accommodation owners.
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About Inn Style Ltd: Inn Style is an intelligent, easy-to-use property management system for hotels, inns, B&Bs and self-catering properties.
CEO & Co-Founder of Trafi
Martynas Gudonavičius is CEO and co-founder of Trafi. Joining the company at an early stage, Martynas has since then spearheaded global expansion and focused on the commercial side of the business. Before joining Trafi, Martynas was Head of Emerging Markets at InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile ad network and tech platform. Previous to that, Martynas acted as Sales Director for Central and Eastern Europe for Adform.
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About Trafi: Trafi is a mobility-as-a-service platform for shared transportation solutions, helping cities and corporates to reach their goals.
Shefali Sharma
Co-Founder & Director of Oxford Dynamics
I’m a creator & a dreamer. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been passionate about creating ‘something of value’. With a Masters Degree in Engineering, I have spent the last 7+ years working with technical start-ups to gain a better understanding of how successful businesses are built. In a nutshell, what I have learnt can be best summarised by Ed Catmull; “If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something better”. I am a big believer in following your instincts and taking unique approaches to life. So, I’ve now embarked upon my own entrepreneurial journey by co-founding not one but two companies, a Healthtech start-up called OXLABS; as well as a Space start-up called Oxford Dynamics (OD). At both these companies, we’re developing inspiring & accessible technologies by working with those that share our values and passion for making the world a better place. Though still in a fledgling state, its an absolute joy & honour to be working with people / friends who are equally passionate & committed to the OXLABS & OD journey as I am. We dream big, work hard and believe anything is possible. We’re currently in stealth mode for both our businesses but please do follow our pages as we’ll be breaking cover soon – your support really matters to us 🙂 Last but not the least, I’m really proud to be selected as a Global Young Innovator by Innovate UK as one of the few entrepreneurs (under 30) across the UK & South Africa who are solving global challenges with their ground-breaking ideas.
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About Oxford Dynamics: We’re developing a new range of cutting-edge AI-based tools that enable machines to think like humans.
Mike Lawton
Co-Founder & Director of Oxford Dynamics
I’m a serial entrepreneur, which is code for the fact I bear a few scars from getting things wrong slightly less often than I get things right… I enjoy building early-stage high technology businesses in demanding commercial environments: taking an idea from concept stage, raising external investment & building motivated teams that focus on delivery. I’m currently excited about commercial opportunities in so-called ‘new space’ – a sector in which my latest venture Oxford Space Systems is making great progress. I’m firm believer in actively promoting STEM subjects and regularly present in schools, colleges and universities with the aim of inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurial engineers and scientists. I also frequently present at events in the UK and overseas on my entrepreneurial experiences and the process of raising equity finance for technology focused businesses. I (or more correctly the smart guys in my team) have won numerous business and technical awards both in the UK and overseas. I consider myself a pragmatic and enthusiastic leader with a hands-on approach who believes in direct reward for achievement. I have a pathological hatred for bureaucracy, preferring tangible progress in preference over shuffling paper.
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About Oxford Dynamics, Oxford Space Systems: We’re developing a new range of cutting-edge AI-based tools that enable machines to think like humans.
Dr Edward Jackson
Co-Founder & Director of Oxford Dynamics
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About Oxford Dynamics: We’re developing a new range of cutting-edge AI-based tools that enable machines to think like humans.
Lori Hanlon
Executive Assistant to Chairman & Founder of VistaJet
Lori Hanlon is the Executive Assistant, Chairman, and Founder at VistaJet.
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About VistaJet: VistaJet, the world’s fastest growing private aviation company, offering private jet services through its Program and On-Demand solutions.
Constantin Bjerke
CEO and Founder of Crane.tv
Based in the UK for 10 years, Constantin Bjerke is a Founder and CEO of TheCrane.tv, the first online video magazine with emphasis on contemporary culture. Constantin started his career working in TV and film production and was involved in Emotional Brand Building at an Omnicom agency. He has worked with a host of international clients including FIFA World Cup, Mercedes Benz, Laureus World Sports Awards, Orascom, Deutsche Telekom and Pro7Sat1. In the past, he also worked in Finance across various positions at companies including UBS, Lazard and most recently, Citigroup in London and Madrid. Constantin holds a Diplôme de Grande Ecole and a Master’s from ESCP-EAP.
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About Crane.tv: Crane.tv is a contemporary-culture video magazine, focusing on arts, design, style, food and travel around the world.
Maya Poulton
Co-Founder & CMO of Safara
Co-Founder & CMO of Safara. Formerly Marketing and Partnerships @ Mr & Mrs Smith, Lyst.com, Thread.com, Spring, ASMALLWORLD, and JETSETTER. 13 years growing and scaling startups, with a focus on travel, e-comm, subscription businesses, and mobile.
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About Safara: Safara is a hotel booking platform and membership that minimizes time and cost for travelers.
Samuel Rason
Co-Founder and CEO of Viva City
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About Viva City: Viva City offers guest experience, discovery, and analytics software to help businesses thrive with the Chinese Inbound market.
Andy Owen-Jones
Co-Founder and CEO of bd4travel
Andy is bd4travel’s CEO and co-Founder. He oversees business development and the overall growth strategy. Before founding bd4travel, Andy was the CEO at leading German leisure specialist TravelTainment, which he joined after 10 years at Amadeus. Prior to that, Andy held positions at several international businesses such as British Airways, Deloitte Consulting, and Virgin Atlantic.
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About bd4travel: Bd4travel provides IT solutions to assist firms in targeting and segmenting their customer base.
Andrew Dent
Founder of Family Traveller
Andrew Dent is the Founder at Family Traveller
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About Family Traveller: Family Traveller is a multi-platform brand operating across familytraveller.com, social media and email.
Paul Martin
Co-Founder & Sales Manager of Abellio
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About Abellio: Abellio delivers rail and bus services to passengers in Scotland, England, and Germany.
Ali Beklen
Founder and Managing Partner of HotelRunner
After working for several financial institutions and IBM, Ali Beklen co-founded HotelRunner with Arden Agopyan, with the ambition of converting the long-tail accommodation sales and distribution management from offline to online at global scale. For the last 10 years, he has been advising many organizations and initiatives focusing on digital transformation of the travel industry globally. He has publications in international refereed journals and conferences about service and cloud computing. He is Advisory Chair for Software Service Computation at the International Academy, Research and Industry Association. Beklen holds an M.Sc. in Computer Engineering and a B.A. in Economics. He is also a PhD candidate in computer engineering.
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About HotelRunner: SaaS enabled B2B network for accommodations and travel agencies to find, contract, connect, and transact with each other online.
Arden Agopyan
Founder and Managing Partner of HotelRunner
Arden Agopyan is an experienced entrepreneur and business development executive with a proven track record. Prior to founding HotelRunner, he led IBM’s Cloud Computing Software technical sales and market creation activities across Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa. His areas of expertise also include international team management, business execution, strategic marketing and financial management. As a talented hacker coming from software development background, along twenty years of business experience in technology, Arden is a Ph.D. candidate in Finance, holds a BSc in Computer Engineering degree and an MBA. Arden speaks five languages and is also Advisory Chair for Cloud Computing at International Academy, Research and Industry Association and co-author of a book, academic journals and articles.
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About HotelRunner: SaaS enabled B2B network for accommodations and travel agencies to find, contract, connect, and transact with each other online.
Doron Meyassed
Co-Founder & CEO of Plum Guide
In 2008 Doron founded Promise Communities (now C Space): a company specializing in solving brand, innovation and insight challenges through mass online collaboration. In eight years, he grew it into a 140+ person leading innovation agency delivering programs for the likes of Twitter, Spotify, Samsung, British Airways, Hilton, EE, and Diageo. Having sold the business to Omnicom, Doron now lives and breathes travel. Having moved country every few years and having a total undetectable accent, no one is really sure where Doron is from. He is also into some seriously bizarre music no one can quite understand, but that won’t stop him trying to explain.
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About Plum Guide: Plum Guide is the definitive list of the world’s best vacation rentals.
Arif Meharali
Co Founder of Plum Guide
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About Plum Guide: Plum Guide is the definitive list of the world’s best vacation rentals.
Imran Arshed
Co-Founder and Head of Technology of Plum Guide
Imran has built and led development of large scale platforms of e-commerce and e-CRM systems for the likes BBC, Bacardi, Berghaus Laphroaig and Russian Standard. A problem solver at heart, Imran was writing code in his teens on an Amiga 500. From there, he went on to work with consulting firms, agencies and startups and held the notable leadership positions of Director and CTO. When not coding, you can find Imran at Cafe OTO listening to white noise.
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About Plum Guide: Plum Guide is the definitive list of the world’s best vacation rentals.
Oliver Pugh
Founder of YETiCO
Oliver Pugh is the founder of YETiCO.
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About YETiCO: We build software for card machines that solves real world problems.
Hira Virdee
Founder and CEO of Lumi Space
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About Lumi Space: Lumi provide precise positioning for satellites and space debris, using laser ranging.
Gabriella Csányi
Co-Founder of Like Locals
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About Like Locals: Like Locals is a travel media startup on a mission to inspire and empower curious explorers to uncover each city’s unique culture.
Constantinos Los
Co-Founder of Like Locals
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About Like Locals: Like Locals is a travel media startup on a mission to inspire and empower curious explorers to uncover each city’s unique culture.
Ijaz Khan
Co-Founder of Like Locals
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About Like Locals: Like Locals is a travel media startup on a mission to inspire and empower curious explorers to uncover each city’s unique culture.
Raphael Zier
Co Founder and Executive Chairman of PerfectStay
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About PerfectStay: PerfectStay is a Paris-based B2B tour operator that offers a tailor-made travel sales offer for major brands.
Marco Scotti
Founder of Dynamo
Deeply passionated entrepreneurial spirit. At very young age, going trough international studies which were completed with a Master in Entrepreneurship in London. Foundation of two start-ups in Silicon Valley, autonomously gathering investors, partners and support from world-leading companies and personalities.
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About Dynamo, Dynamo Group LLC, TechItalia:Lab: Dynamo allows sharing Luxury Experiences (eg. Villas, Yachts, VIP Tables); thanks to its experience providers network in 20 cities worldwide
Simon Woodroffe
Founder of Yotel
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About Yotel: Yotel offers affordable hotels with elements of luxury in smart spaces.
John Bavister
Co-Founder & CFO of Odyssey Airlines
John Bavister is the CFO at Odyssey Airlines.
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About Odyssey Airlines: Odyssey Airlines will begin offering premium non-stop business class services
Clive Jacobs
Founder of Travel Weekly Group
Clive Jacobs is the Founder and former Chairman and CEO of holiday autos group limited, the world’s largest leisure car rental broker.From humble beginnings, Clive built holiday autos into a sector leading business, which was acquired by lastminute.com in March 2003 for £43 million. On selling holiday autos Clive joined the board of lastminute.com plc as Executive Deputy Chairman a position he held until June 2004. Having left school at 16 Clive’s early career included jobs on building sites, and even the fish department at Selfridges. His introduction to the travel and leisure sector industry was working as a messenger for a travel agency. Following that he took a job in sales with a seat only company and became Managing Director of his own flight company at the age of 21. On the look out for an unexploited niche in the travel industry, Clive and two partners founded holiday autos in 1987. holiday autos was the first car rental broker in Europe and the first car rental business to offer a pre book-able pre-paid fully inclusive product that was guaranteed in price. In 1995 Clive brought in ECI Ventures to assist him in buying out his original partners. They took a 25% stake in the company. From this point onwards and realising the international opportunity that existed in this still unexploited segment Clive then set about the task of transforming holiday autos from a small successful company, into an established, well respected global business with a turnover in excess of £200 million operating out of 30 countries worldwide. Between 1995 and 2003 holiday autos won 68 awards in 8 countries for its service and innovation. In 1999 holiday autos launched the first fully book-able car rental website which by 2003 was handling in excess of 80% of the company’s transactions. In 1997 Clive was awarded the World Travel Market Global award for his outstanding contribution to the UK Travel Industry and in 1999 he was voted Director of the Year by PWC and Decision magazine. In 2000 he was presented with a World Travel Market Tribute 21 award, an accolade given to 21 key individuals who had been instrumental in bringing pioneering changes to the travel industry over the previous 21 years. In 2003, he was inducted in to the travel industry’s highly prestigious Hall Of Fame, alongside other leading figures including Vladimir Reitz, Billy Butlin, Lord King and Richard Branson. Since June 2004 Clive has advised on several large acquisition opportunities with major banks and private equity companies. He has personally backed two businesses – the leading independent online classified business freeads.co.uk and an internet software consultancy business. In September 2008 Clive was appointed as the first Chairman of Visit Devon, a newly formed destination management organisation responsible for promoting Devon to the world. In August 2009 Clive acquired Travel Weekly from Reed Business Information, a Reed Elsevier company and became Chairman of the newly formed Travel Weekly Group, formerly known as TWgroup. Travel Weekly is one of the leading publications and information services in the travel and tourism industry, and includes the associated brands Travolution, Gazetteers.com, the Globe Travel Awards and associated websites and events. In the past four and a half years the Travel Weekly Group team, under Clive’s leadership, have built on the group’s market leadership and strengthened what were already leading brands even further into the market place. In November 2012 Clive expanded the Travel Weekly Group by acquiring Caterer and Hotelkeeper from Reed Business Information. Caterer and Hotelkeeper is the UK”s only weekly for hoteliers and restaurateurs and one of the events in their portfolio is the renowned Catey awards. Clive also acquired the Agent Achievement Awards from Kingley Event Management, which are recognised as the leading travel agent awards programme. In 2013 the business launched Connecting Travel, a revolutionary new publishing concept for the B2B market which provides a dedicated global travel, tourism, and hospitality community for its members. In March 2014 Clive expanded the Travel Weekly Group further by acquiring Kingley Event Management and its portfolio of events including the British Travel and Hospitality Industry Hall of Fame. The agreement completes the acquisition of Kingley following the purchase of the Agent Achievement Awards in 2012, and extends the Travel Weekly Group events portfolio to more than 50 events a year. In April 2014, Travel Weekly Group also launched Connections, a portfolio of events to facilitate direct business relationships in the global travel industry. Connections is a series of exclusive invitation-only events for different travel sectors to be held in luxury hotels around the world. In June 2014, Clive completed his second acquisition of the year and is now the owner of travelGBI, the premier title solely focusing on domestic travel, tourism and business news in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In July 2014, Caterer and Hotelkeeper rebranded its multimedia publishing group as The Caterer, while launching a radical new website and restyled magazine. With Travel Weekly Group growing in size and scale, and delivering new products in new sectors, Clive launched the umbrella/parent brand of Jacobs Media Group which encompasses all the titles held within Travel Weekly Group. Later in 2014 Clive fulfilled an advisory role for BC Partners, helping them in a successful bid to buy the car hire firm, CarTrawler, from ECI Partners. This outcome brought Clive full circle, with CarTrawler having purchased holiday autos from lastminute.com in 2013. Clive remains an investor, and also an active advisor in the business to both management team and private equity firm. In the same year Clive took a stake in and became Chairman of leading luxury cruise business, The Cruise Professionals, whilst also becoming Chairman of leading Canadian travel retailer itravel2000. Reflecting his own background, Clive also devotes time to mentor young entrepreneurs.Aside from business Clive is married to Suzanne, they have a daughter Martha, aged 13 and his family home is in Devon. Clive is actively involved in charity work and is a Patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust. His other passions include shooting, skiing, collecting…and drinking fine wines!
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About Travel Weekly Group: Travel Weekly Group is a publishing and events company that serves the travel industry, travel agents, tour operators, and other suppliers.
Graeme Risby
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Hiyacar
Graeme Risby is Co-Founder and CEO of HiyaCar. Simply put, HiyaCar is the Airbnb for motor cars with all the insurance barriers overcome, matching car hirers with car owners and changing the way we use cars forever. Graeme is a social entrepreneur who believes strongly in using technology and peer-to-peer networks to improve people’s lives, make new friends and bring communities together.
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About Hiyacar: Hiyacar is a UK peer to peer car sharing platform.
Rob Larmour
COO & Co-Founder of Hiyacar
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About Hiyacar: Hiyacar is a UK peer to peer car sharing platform.
Sarah Miller
Co-Founder of Triptease
Founder at Triptease
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About Sarah Miller & Partners, The Wall Street Journal, Triptease: Triptease is a travel SaaS company that empowers hotels to recapture guest relationships and increase direct bookings.
Wahida Samie
Founder of Studentbase
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About Studentbase: Creating the Global Student Network
Leroy Lawrence
Founder of Pigee
Leroy Lawrence is the Founder of Pigee Inc.
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About Pigee: Pigee is a Mobile App that allows tourists to post home purchases directly from the shops and street markets they visit.
Adam Kerr
Founder of Tripism
Adam Kerr has travelled continuously,and lived and worked on several different continents. Like many global business travelers, he has always openly shared his business travel experiences, travel tips and eagerly learned from others! Adam is an entrepreneur and business builder who has over 20 years with several of Europes’ most successful internet and mobile start-ups. Most recently he led the M-commerce division for Ericsson, bringing mobile banking to emerging markets, predominantly Africa. In 2014 Adam founded Tripism with the goal of improving business travel. Although an early stage start up, the service is grabbing the attention of both large businesses and individuals keen to improve their travel experience. Tripism’s customers include Microsoft Inc, with their Head of Travel, Eric Bailey, naming Tripism as one of his key innovation partnerships.
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About Tripism: Tripism users store and exchange travel hacks with contacts whose opinions they value.
Léa Bourratière
Co-Founder & CMO of Live2Leave
Building brands, generating impactful content and breakthrough communications, that is what I am known for, and passionate about!
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About Live2Leave: Live2Leave is a travel app where you can record your favorite spots & get recommendations from people you know.
Wahab Ahmad
CEO and Founder of TimeAway
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About PenAndWeb, TimeAway: Enriching family holidays, tried and tested by like minded mums
Faye Woodcock
Co-Founder and Head of Product of TimeAway
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About TimeAway: Enriching family holidays, tried and tested by like minded mums
Kiki MacDonald
Co-Founder of Euan’s Guide
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About Euan’s Guide: Euan’s Guide: Disabled Access Reviews by disabled people for disabled people
Euan MacDonald
Co-Founder of Euan’s Guide
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About Euan’s Guide: Euan’s Guide: Disabled Access Reviews by disabled people for disabled people
Dorothy Sanders
Co-Founder · Editorial & Design Lead of Maptia
Dorothy Sanders joined Maptia as Co-Founder · Editorial & Design Lead in 2012.
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About Maptia, Sealegacy: Maptia is an organisation dedicated to fostering empathy through storytelling.
Vincent Hus
Co Founder, CTO of Flymble
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About Flymble: Flymble is a next generation travel platform that offers instant travel financing. Book flights for just 1/10th upfront and spread the cost.
Nishul Saperia
CEO and Founder of Beachfix
Co-Founder of $5bn financial services firm Markit, launching multiple products across London and New York. Currently launching www.beachfix.co.
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About Beachfix: BeachFix helps you find and plan your next beach holiday.
Perry Chan
Co-Founder of PermaGO
Co-founder & CEO at PermaGO
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About PermaGO: The 21st Century Travel Experience
Abel Samet
Co-Founder of Troubadour Goods
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About Troubadour Goods: Troubadour Goods is a menswear fashion brand
Timothy O’Neil-Dunne
Co-Founder of Air Black Box
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About Air Black Box: Air Black Box The world’s first dedicated multi-carrier booking system.
Ed Fairman
Founder & Design of Airdo
Founder & Design at Airdo
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About Airdo: Airdo is a mobile application that helps find food and drink options around airports.
Tiff Burns
Founder / CEO of LuckyTrip
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About LuckyTrip: LuckyTrip is a travel inspiration app that lets you find a trip in one tap.
Alex Burns
Founder and Head of Product of LuckyTrip
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About LuckyTrip: LuckyTrip is a travel inspiration app that lets you find a trip in one tap.
Abhishek Gupta
Co-Founder of Maaish Inc
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About Maaish Inc: Foodie Social Network – (Uber is for Travel, Air BnB is for Stay, Maaish is for Food)
Rachel Howes
Co – Founder of HomeRez
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About Great National Hotels, HomeRez: HomeRez is a centralised service for the safe and simple booking of holiday rental properties.
Paul Alexander Jones
Founder of Must
Founder at Must.
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About DJD, DJS, Must: Must is a personal recommendation app to save and share amazing places with friends.
Cheryl Anne Slater
Founder of Soul Seed Media
Founder at Soul Seed Media
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About Soul Seed Media: The best recommended retreats from around the world.
Anna Frankowska
CEO & Co-Founder of Nightset
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About Nightset: Nightset is a nightlife marketplace that connects people, venues, and brands on one platform globally.
Dorian Harris
Founder of Skoosh
Known as one of the most disruptive influences in the travel game, Dorian learned the hotel industry from the ground up. He started as a customer service agent in 1992, soon moving up to a contract negotiator and then business development manager, before launching his own business, Skoosh, in 2001. Dorian built the software enabling Skoosh to compete head-to-head with the largest agents in the travel industry. When his competitors tried to oust Skoosh, Dorian led a legal challenge which has shaped not only the hotel industry but competition law around the world. Dorian is currently working on a commercial challenge to the travel industry, building Where’s Good?, a portal which will change the way people search for and book travel, for good.
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About Skoosh: Skoosh is a website providing hotel information, hotels near attractions, city guides, hotel reviews and hotel booking.
Rafael Jorda Siquier
Founder and CEO of Open Cosmos
As CEO and co-founder, Rafael leads the Open Cosmos team. From leading the team to deliver the first satellite mission within eight months, to managing the expanding team and range of customers today, Rafael has overseen the overall company strategy and directed its execution, all while working towards the original mission of democratizing access to space. After studying aerospace engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona and completing an MBA, Rafael has worked at large corporations, such as Airbus Defence and Space, as well as small, innovative space start-ups. His desire to make space more accessible led him to develop Open Cosmos while at the prestigious Entrepreneur First incubator program in July 2015. For his work leading Open Cosmos, Rafael has been recognized most recently as Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 by EuroConsult.
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About Open Cosmos: Open Cosmos provides simple and affordable space missions.
Jose Pablo Julia
Co-Founder of Kymboo
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About Kymboo: Kymboo is a booking social system for professionals and owners to promote other establishments, hotels, and apartments.
Tom Marchant
Owner and Co-Founder of Black Tomato
Tom Marchant is an entrepreneurial traveler and co-founder of The Black Tomato Group, parent company of the award-winning bespoke luxury travel operator Black Tomato, strategic creative agency Studio Black Tomato and incentive travel group Black Tomato Agency. Black Tomato, a Virtuoso member, has been recognized as the leading innovative authority in global luxury travel by revered industry voices including Bloomberg, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Vogue. Tom Marchant and Black Tomato were awarded Conde Nast Traveler’s 2019 World’s Best Travel Specialists and Tom lauded as ‘one of the 50 people in the world changing the way we travel’. Marchant is a member Travel + Leisure’s A List contributor to Newsweek, Harper’s Bazaar and Inc.
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About Black Tomato: Black Tomato is a bespoke luxury travel company that delivers imaginative and travel experiences around the world.
Matt Smith
Co-Founder and Director of Black Tomato
Matt Smith set up Black Tomato Ltd with Tom Marchant and James Merrett in 2005 and to date have had a broad strategic and operational remit across all areas of Black Tomato. Central to Matt’s role is the responsibility for both driving forward the day to day business operations and Business Development / Sales processes that have underpinned the Group’s commercial success and significant growth. I also oversees a number of critical areas of the business including, Office Infrastructure, Company /Staff Culture, IT, Security, Data Protection/GDPR, HR, H&S / F&S, Insurance, Legal Contracting , Procurement, Staff / Business expenses, Staff Reward / Engagement, Staff Training and Staff Meetings and Events. Alongside this, he leads critical strategic projects including those that increase profitability and productivity across the business in line with the constant reinforcement of BT’s ‘purpose’ and company culture both internally and externally.
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About Black Tomato: Black Tomato is a bespoke luxury travel company that delivers imaginative and travel experiences around the world.
Daniel Yates
Managing Director and Founder of Pitchup.com
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About Pitchup.com: Making it a doddle to book campsites in 65 countries. Member of Financial Times FT1000 fastest-growing companies in Europe 2018/19/20.
Gareth Thomas
Co-Founder & Shareholder of Reserve Apartments
Building online comunities and useful, appealing and generally really cool websites is what Gareth does. Now sprinkling this magic in the short term let sector.
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About Reserve Apartments: Reserve Apartments provides web-based solutions for the short term letting/self catering market.
Gareth Thomas
Co-Founder & Shareholder of Reserve Apartments
Building online comunities and useful, appealing and generally really cool websites is what Gareth does. Now sprinkling this magic in the short term let sector.
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About Reserve Apartments: Reserve Apartments provides web-based solutions for the short term letting/self catering market.
Chris Lait
Founder of Sailchecker Ltd.
Founder at SailChecker
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About Sailchecker Ltd.: Travel Tech • The original global yacht charter booking platform & community
Matt Smith
Head of Business Development & Founder of Charterworld.com
Matt has always been around the yachting world. He learnt to walk on a yacht, and then grew up on one for 3 years as a boy cruising the pacific with his family. Since then boating has always been his main concern, from racing sailing dinghies and keelers to cruising on super-yachts. He has sailed all over the world, including working for several years on charter super-yachts as engineer, first mate as well as captained smaller yachts. His non-marine experience includes practicing briefly as a commercial law solicitor, as well as internet and business development. He has a law degree (LLB) and has been admitted to the Bar, as well as a double major bachelor of arts degree (Political Science & History). He believes in promoting a happy, positive and energetic work environment for employees and clients. He is keen to share his skills and experience from on and off the water to make your charter experience the best that it can be.
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About Charterworld.com: CharterWorld is a private yacht charter specialist. It’s what we do. We provide crewed luxury yachts, for large motor yacht charters,
Steve Gledden
Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of aiPod
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About aiPod, healthbox360: aiPod is a breakthrough, safe low-cost transportation system
Chris Clarkson
Founder of sunshine.co.uk
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About sunshine.co.uk: Sunshine.co.uk is a hospitality company that helps its clients book and reserve inexpensive holidays.
Tarun Sainani
CEO & Founder of World Around Me
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About World Around Me, WT InfoTech: World Around Me is a local discovery app to help searching local places & services – on the phone camera with augmented reality – anywhere.
John Graham
Co-Founder & CEO of GO Outdoors
John Graham is Co-Founder & CEO at GO Outdoors.
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About GO Outdoors: GO Outdoors is an outdoor store offering waterproof clothing, outdoor clothing, tents and camping equipment in the UK.
