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Travolution Start-up Summit panellists, from left: Paul Broughton, Travelport; Morgann Lesné, Cambon Partners; and Stewart Baird, Stone Ventures
Red tape is stifling travel start-ups, says investor
Regulations, ‘male bias’ and exciting new ventures were themes of the second Travolution Start-up Summit. Juliet Dennis reports
TRAVOLUTION START-UP SUMMIT
Red tape is “stifling” the growth of travel start-up businesses in the UK, according to the boss of an investment firm.
Stewart Baird, chief executive
of Stone Ventures, said there was a “computer says no” culture in the UK that made it harder for start-ups to get off the ground compared with other countries. Baird told delegates at the
Travolution Start-Up Summit, hosted by IBM: “If the Civil Aviation Authority puts too tight a control on small businesses, it will
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travelweekly.co.uk 12 July 2018
stifle them. I think the regulator is stifling growth. “They see risk and the computer
‘says no’. If you are growing, you are a risk, so they put restrictions on them. It’s unhelpful.” New travel firms applying for
an Atol licence are required by the CAA to provide a minimum £50,000 bond to trade. Bonding is necessary for the first four years’ trading but reduces annually. In comparison, start-ups in
France are encouraged, according to Morgann Lesné, partner at
business consultancy Cambon Partners. “The regulation [in France] is
in favour of travel businesses in general. It’s a lot easier to set up a company,” he said. Baird said if UK regulations are
not relaxed, smaller firms will be prevented from emerging at the bottom of the business “food chain”. “We have seen lots of big sales
of businesses in the UK, but who’s feeding that chain, unless we get more businesses at the bottom?” he said. The summit also heard new
travel businesses are facing a diminishing pool of talented staff
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PICTURES: PHIL GAMMON, ADRIAN POPE
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