Two entrepreneurs who won £100,000 investment for their travel firm on Dragons’ Den are keen to work with agents to help grow their business.
Aden Levin, 25, and Rob Tominey, 24, of Mainstage Travel impressed the panel of the BBC show with their pitch and received offers from four of the five ‘dragons’. They opted to take up Piers Linney, the cloud computing and technology entrepreneur, on his offer of £100,000 for a 15% stake in their business.
Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne also offered cash for a slice of the business.
Mainstage Travel specialises in accommodation-inclusive packages for festivals and clubbing events in Magaluf and Ayia Napa, and festival tickets, selling both direct and through the trade.
The majority of packages don’t include flights but Tominey said Mainstage was looking to increase its Atol from 450 to 5,000 licensed passengers this year as it projects up to 50% of customers will book flight‑inclusive packages.
The show was recorded last April and the duo have since been working with Linney to branch out to sell other clubbing destinations such as Zante and Malia. They have also been working on techonology to improve the booking process. Currently, packages are sold through a number of Hays Travel Independence Group agents, but Levin said he was looking for opportunities to work with more agents. “This is an area we are looking to move into,” he added.
The pair spent two hours discussing their ideas with the ‘dragons’, including plans to develop their ski and music festival Snowboxx and clubbing brand Takeover. Levin said: “We’re two young guys and to get the chance to work with Piers is a great opportunity.”