On the Beach set to defy the gloom
ONLINE holiday group On The Beach expects to defy the consumer downturn by boosting sales this year.
The Manchester company, which is part-owned by private equity group ISIS, says public confidence in package holidays has also been affected by the demise last year of XL, while the weakness of the pound against the euro will be a further factor.
Founded by entrepreneur Simon Cooper in September 2005 On the Beach now employs 200 people and turned over £130m in the year to last September.
Its soaring profits – up 77% to £4.8m over the last two years – earned it 13th place in a recent league table of the top 100 private equity-owned companies.
Mr Cooper, 36, started in business in Macclesfield selling ski holidays, before lauching his first business On The Piste – which he sold to leisure giant TUI last year.
He said he is confident the business – which has a much lower cost case than traditional travel agencies – is well-placed to defy the gloom.
“The market is more challenging that’s certain – but I am confident we’ll continue to grow. Consumer confidence has been hit by issues in the market place such as XL and also by the recession.
“I think people are shopping around more and booking later, but I don’t think it’s peoples’ intentions to give up on their holidays.”
With the slump in the value of the pound against the euro, Mr Cooper said destinations such as Egypt and Turkey were becoming increasingly popular with holidaymakers.
Despite the challenges he said the company, based at the Towers Business Park in Didsbury, is “trading significantly up on last year”.
“There can’t be many others in the sector, We are reasonably upbeat and trading as well as we can and will be ready for the upturn.”
Developments for this year include the launch of a new mini-breaks-focused site, called Inthecity.com, which will widen the group’s appeal.
On the Beach was valued at £40m when ISIS Equity Partners took a 51% stake in the company in November 2007.
Meanwhile, Mr Cooper’s comments were confirmed by Manchester Airport managing director Andrew Cornish who said that people were still flying, although he admitted that discretionary holidays, such as ski breaks and half term holidays had taken a hit.
He said: “Bookings for the summer are looking really good. There has been a switch in destinations with more going for Turkey, or Egypt and packages, where they know what they are getting.”
