Offering exotic escapes, from jungle adventures to beach retreats and ‘big five’ safaris, this online tour operator specialises in the luxury travel market. Chief executive Nena Chaletzos founded the company after becoming frustrated with the complexity of tailor-making a luxury holiday. The company developed technology that makes the process of multi component trip building easier. Luxtripper is chaired by travel and media veteran Roger Flynn, a former BBC Ventures chief executive and Virgin commercial director, who chaired Loveholidays from 2011 to its sale in 2018. In January 2021, Luxtripper secured £1.2m of funding, bringing total investment to £3.1m.
‘Why all great leaders are vulnerable’
More Unemployables
Why we’ll be bigger than Heinz
Dr Will’s is on a mission to reduce our sugar consumption. Its sauces, dressings and mayonnaise are made with only natural ingredients and are sweetened with dates rather than added sugar. Its eponymous cofounder, Dr Will Breakey, teamed up with Liam White and Josh Rose to launch its products in 2017, and they have since won
Lessons from a ‘Best 100’ company: Hire on attitude, not skill
Moneypenny is the biggest and fastest-growing company of its type in the world. Founded by sister and brother Rachel and Ed Reeves in 2000 from a £10,000 investment, it provides call-answering, digital switchboard, live chat and tech based communication channels to 225,000 clients around the world – from small start-ups to Google-sized corporates. These impressive […]
‘The reality of being a founder…you make it up as you go along!’
Passenger Clothing sells durable outdoor clothing and accessories directly to the consumer. Based in the New Forest, it prides itself on being a responsible brand rooted in nature, connection and wellbeing. The company promises to plant a tree for every order and uses lower footprint materials like recycled cotton, hemp, recycled plastic and organics. In addition, its headquarters is powered by UK-generated renewable electricity.
We turned £3,000 savings into a multi-million pound clothing brand
Founded by Samantha and Stephanie Frost in 2013, Pretty Lavish started their company in their Hertfordshire living room, aiming to fill a market gap for affordable, high-quality clothing. Gaining popularity, the company opened its first store in 2017 and thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on knitwear and lounge attire. Leveraging Instagram and TikTok, […]
HOW TO BOOTSTRAP A FUTURE UNICORN
Entrepreneurs set themselves testing targets – it’s what they do. From hotel owners to jewellery makers, they must strike out alone or with a small team and forge something special. Doing so requires a deliberate dash – naked at first – into a painful daily hailstorm of challenges. It’s a tough calling by nature, and there are as many different dreams burning holes in founders’ pillowcases each night as there are stars in the sky. But of all the entrepreneurial goals, there can be few more demanding than the one Dima Kats set himself in 2016.
The twins set to shake up the cosmetics industry
Beijing-born twins Jake Xu and Shane Carnell-Xu launched this men’s cosmetics brand in 2019 after raising funds from angel investors Sally Preston and Neil Mather of Kiddylicious, the children’s snack business. Bestsellers in Shakeup’s skincare and makeup range include moisturiser, under eye concealer and face masks. The brand is stocked by national and overseas retailers, such as Harvey Nichols, Superdrug and Australia’s Myer, and it recently launched its new Face 4ward range in China. The Xu brothers previously set up READY, a creative agency based in Bath.