On the Beach (business)

On the Beach
Public
Traded as LSE: OTB
Industry Travel
Founded 2004
Founder Simon Cooper
Headquarters Cheadle, Greater Manchester, UK
Area served
 United Kingdom
Key people
 Richard Segal
(chairman)
Simon Cooper (CEO)
Products
Services Travel Agency
Revenue £83.6 million (2017)[1]
£21.1 million (2017)[1]
£18.0 million (2017)[1]
Website www.onthebeach.co.uk

On the Beach Group plc is a UK-based travel retailer specialising in short and medium haul holidays to Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

On the Beach's offices in Cheadle

The company was founded by Simon Cooper, who began his career in the travel industry while attending university, when he founded a ski holiday company called On the Piste. He geared the business toward groups of students wanting to go on budget-friendly ski holidays to the French Alps by coach. Meanwhile, in 2004, Cooper started working on a new venture, On the Beach. When Thomson’s purchased On the Piste in 2008, Cooper then directed his full attention to his new platform.[2]

In 2007, private equity investor Livingbridge acquired a majority stake in the company for £36 million.[3]

In 2008, the company relocated to larger premises at Spectrum House on Towers Business Park in Didsbury, Manchester to house additional employees.[4]

In 2011 On the Beach expanded further by acquiring Resort Taxis out of administration for £10,000 to assist with transporting holidaymakers in its most popular destinations of Egypt, Turkey, The Balearics, The Canaries, mainland Spain, Greece and The Algarve. The Resort Taxi arm was later re-branded into On the Beach Transfers in 2012.[5] The company also continued to build on its services by founding On the Beach Beds in 2011. The self-contracted hotel organisation allowed On the Beach to contract directly with hotels, attempting to secure better rates for their customers and increase their market advantage.[6]

In January 2012, On the Beach launched its 24-hour resort support service, providing customers with points of contact within their resorts at some of their most popular destinations.[7] By the end of 2012, On the Beach had relocated its headquarters to a new 17’500 square foot property in Cheadle, near Stockport.[8]

In October 2013, Livingbridge sold a majority stake in the business to Inflexion Equity Partners on the basis of an enterprise value of £73 million.[9]

In January 2015 On the Beach expanded internationally by launching in Sweden under the domain name ebeach.se.[10] In September 2015, On the Beach was floated on the London Stock Exchange, valued at £240 million.[11]

Operations

On the Beach is headquartered in Park Square, Cheadle, Stockport, Greater Manchester.[12] On 26 December 2013, On the Beach aired their first television advert. The ‘Totally Beachin Holidays’ campaign, was filmed in Corralejo, Fuerteventura and was broadcast across the Midlands region on ITV and Channel 4.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Results 2017" (PDF). On the Beach. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Sun shines on founder of holiday site". The Times. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "On the Breech". Livingbridge. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "On the Beach valued at £40m". Manchester Evening News. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "On The Beach Transfers - About Us". www.onthebeachtransfers.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Jobs with On the Beach". Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "On the Beach to offer in-resort support". Travel Weekly. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  8. ↑ "On The Beach moves HQ to Cheadle". Manchester Evening News. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "Inflexion backs the £73m buyout of On The Beach". Inflexion. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "On the Beach reveals international expansion plans". www.travelmole.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  11. ↑ "On the Beach Pricing of Initial Public Offering - RNS - London Stock Exchange". www.londonstockexchange.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  12. ↑ "About Us | Leading Online Travel Agency | On the Beach". www.onthebeach.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "On the Beach to launch first TV ad campaign". 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
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