John Hays Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalists revealed

THE SHORTLIST:

Georgia and Alice Aubrey, co-founders, Lovetovisit.com

Twin sisters Georgia and Alice Aubrey set up attraction tickets site Lovetovisit.com in a bid to “remove the friction between discovery and booking”. The pair were working for a tourism and arts marketing agency when Covid hit, and discovered a demand for attractions booking to digitise, due to capacity limits and consumer behavioural changes. The business has gone from strength to strength with investment raised, including from the original investors in Deliveroo.

Robert Godwin, managing director and co-founder, Room2 Hometels

Aiming to “bridge the gap between Airbnb and hotels”, Room2 Hometels was founded after Robert Godwin and his brother experienced hotels that lacked personality and warmth while they were on the road competing for the GB sailing team. Sustainability is at the business’s heart, with Room2 Chiswick – launched in December 2021 – a whole life net zero hotel, which means the carbon emissions will be rebalanced throughout the entire “hometel’s” lifecycle.

Lloyd Ingram, managing director, TravelBank Holidays

Lloyd Ingram followed his passion and launched his agency TravelBank Holidays mid-pandemic after 15 years in the banking industry. Faced with the limitations of the pandemic, he innovated with Scotland coach tours and sports breaks, and has generated strong sales income for his first year, with exciting plans afoot for the future.

David McDonald, managing director, Chillimix

Already the managing director of 10-branch travel agency chain World Travel Lounge, David McDonald has always been an active ambassador for the LGBT+ community. McDonald vowed to one day launch an LGBT+-friendly operator after his own negative experience with a high street agency, whereby he and his partner felt they were sent on holiday to an unsuitable destination. “We could not be ourselves and we were very conscious of our sexuality,” he said. As such, LGBT+ tour operator, Chillimix, was born this year.

Sefton Monk, founder, My Kind of Cruise

With a background in technology, app and website-building, but passionate about cruise, Sefton Monk launched My Kind of Cruise as an innovative way to book cruises. The app launched in January this year to an extremely positive response, with more than 40,000 downloads and reaching 37th in the travel section of the App Store. The app’s average booking age is getting younger, currently standing at 30.

Robbie O’Grady, director, The Cruise Room

The Cruise Room in the Wirral was born out of an idea between directors Jonathan Howitt (an experienced cruise professional) and Robert O’Grady, who’s an Irish cruise influencer in his spare time. “Not your average agency”, The Cruise Room has an art gallery, a lounge, guest services and future cruise areas, a boutique for a future sustainable merchandise range and even door mats displaying the day of the week like the lifts on ships.

Hannah Porter, managing director, Travel By Hannah

Hannah Porter set up her agency Travel By Hannah aged just 25 amid the Covid pandemic, writing her business plan on the beach after the agency she previously worked at closed. The business has flourished, smashing its revenue targets by June this year, with a growing customer base and strong social media following.

Adam Sebba, Nicholas Priest and Ed Hicks, co-founders, The Luminaire 

New luxury travel company The Luminaire aims to re-invent educational travel for the next generation – creating tailored trips accompanied by experts like explorers, naturalists, artists, historians or archaeologists. While Nicholas Priest (chief marketing office) is a seasoned travel professional, having worked at the likes of Aman Resorts as global head of marketing, Ed Hicks (chief operating officer and general counsel) and Adam Sebba (formerly of Cookson Adventures, and now CEO of The Luminaire) are both relative newcomers to travel. Hicks – a former city lawyer – made introductions with the business’s investors, resulting in its first funding round, conducted over Zoom during the pandemic.