PROFITS RISE AT TRAVEL UP THANKS TO TECH INVESTMENT

Ali Shah arrived in the UK from Pakistan in 2002. It was a new country, he had no money and couldn’t speak English.

Now he’s built a travel business which last year turned over £328 million.

He’d come to the UK to marry the daughter of a family friend. He earned money working as a night security guard but he got bored. This was not surprising – he’d studied physics, chemistry and mathematics at university in Lahore.

In Pakistan, he’d worked in the travel industry, so after saving up money from his security job he bought a computer and despite not understanding English, set himself up in business selling flights on the now defunct Teletext.

“My English was still poor, so I wrote a script with questions to ask customers.”

These included: “What’s your budget? Where do you want to go?”

His tack was successful. He took over a high street shop in Reading and recruited talented people – some still work for him today. But the business was up against bigger, established companies such as First Choice and Lunn Polly.

What they didn’t have was the end-to-end booking facility he had designed. The backbone of his company TravelUp is Ali’s bespoke booking engine, e-traveller. Last year this helped him deliver more than half a million customer sales.

TravelUp owns the technology and invests around £1 million every year to

It’s time for celebration and growth at luxury watch makers

Christopher Ward, the Maidenhead-based watchmaker, has customers in more than 100 countries. The company creates high-quality timepieces that combine British style and innovation with Swiss watchmaking skills. The brand specialises in mechanical and quartz watches designed in the UK and manufactured in the home of horology, Biel, Switzerland.

The brand is a leading innovator in the British watch industry and this year marks the fifth anniversary of the creation of its own in-house Swiss-made movement, Calibre SH21. Christopher Ward’s current watch collection includes dress, dive, aviation and motorsport watches, as well as a collaborative collection with Malvernbased car maker Morgan.

With a head office in Maidenhead and a workshop in Biel, the business now employs 45 people, processing 22,000 orders per year and generating sales of more than £10 million.

This summer, the company secured £6.35 million investment from BGF (Business Growth Fund), to provide the keep it ahead of the market.

“We continue to invest in technology,” said Ali. “That involves artificial intelligence and individualisation of the customer journey to achieve higher customer satisfaction.”

The company, which is still based in Reading, has also grown through acquisition. Between 2015 and 2016 Ali bought three companies, absorbing them into the business.

He’s also planning to expand overseas, particularly into the USA capital and resource to expand its market presence and product lines.

The company was founded in 2005 by Mike France, Chris Ward and Peter Ellis. James Austin, an investor at BGF who joined the board of Christopher Ward, said: “Ward is a fantastic example of