Travel guides business puts growth on the horizon with £325,000 investment
A Sheffield-based company which produces downloadable travel guides has secured a £325,000 funding round from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance.
Horizon Guides produces travel guides that offer impartial advice from professional travel writers, while making its revenue from partnerships with tour operators.
The funding will allow the company to invest in a sales team and software development, as well as produce guides on a wider range of topics and destinations.
Matthew Barker founded Horizon Guides after spending ten years living in North and South America and South-East Asia while running a travel marketing agency.
Barker partnered with Mike Beech to launch Horizon Guides in 2017. The company now employs four people and uses hundreds of freelance writers.
Grant Peggie, director at British Business Bank, said: “We’re pleased to support Horizon Guides in its mission to expand operations, invest in people, develop software and supply its customers with a wider range of activities. This investment will enable the company to target significant growth, and we look forward to seeing the business scale up.”
Matthew Barker, who is the company’s CEO, added: “Despite the growing demand for ‘experiential travel’, independent operators within this market are finding it harder to reach their audience as search engine results are dominated by the big booking sites. Horizon Guides allows independents to reach their audience directly, while offering travellers impartial, quality information to help them make the right choices.”
NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance is managed by Mercia Fund Managers and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.David Best and Emma Cross of Mercia Fund Managers worked on the investment.
Cross said: “Horizon Guides is on a quest to promote responsible travel. The funding will allow the company to produce more content focused on social responsibility when travelling, reach a wider audience and build more partnerships with independent operators.”
Deborah McGargle provided legal advice to the company on the investment while Caroline Walker at CMS advised Mercia.
