Tell us about your journey so far. What led you to start your business? Are there any challenges or surprises you’ve encountered along the way?
The two of us have nearly 50 years of industry expertise between us and were acquaintances within that network when the pandemic struck and the first lockdown started. We were devastated about losing Easter trade and most likely an entire summer season of tourism. In a state of shock and trying to make sense of the situation, we attended a travel webinar. We were desperate to find a positive from the ashes of the tragedy and got a flash of inspiration from that conversation.
We asked ourselves, 'What if we can create something that will put a smile on people's faces when happier times return?' At the same time, we wanted to address the trend that was there anyway - demand for more immersive and engaging travel experiences. We wanted to create more local and authentic products, elevating the quality and introducing to visitors the great little businesses we know as locals; the hidden gems, whilst helping them to recover too.
We realised we had time to reimagine our industry and time to create from scratch this vision while the world was literally on pause! The overwhelming desire wasn't dampened when we were trying to meet team members in Central London during a lockdown - finding a toilet was top of every agenda! Knocking on doors of pubs and restaurants when they were closed to meet and make relationships was gruelling but worth it. So many others shared our vision.
Almost everything we did was confronted with obstacles, but we had an unshakeable belief in what we were doing and where we wanted to go. We didn't qualify for ANY grants or recovery funds and had to bootstrap right up to here, so we focused on the gift market and sold hundreds of products overnight! That got us started. Now it's time for the next chapter...
You’re casting aside the notion of ‘tours’ in their traditional sense, offering your customers a much more immersive, experiential activity. Where did the idea come from? How does this work, compared to a conventional tour?
We were very aware that people want more nowadays; smaller groups, more involvement in the itinerary, better value and authenticity. We aim for the principle that when recommending a restaurant, if the person wants a Chinese or an Indian cuisine, we’d tell them to go into the place where you see the Chinese and Indians eating. We have Brits on our experiences with people from North America, so we're ticking that box.
We’re essentially casting aside the passive element. The content of good tours is very important, but let’s face it, the more content and the more detailed it is, the less you remember, so it was fascinating in the moment you heard it and then it always escapes you, leaving you telling friends about how you learned ‘something or other that fish and Chips was a Jewish invention’ and can’t remember anything else.
Ultimately, we're about entertaining above all else.
Tell us a bit about your tour guides, who are experts in everything from James Bond, to drinks, British history, art and food.
We don’t choose our guides like a typical tour operator. It’s led by the product first. We create products with the guides in our network based on their expertise. If we’re doing an espionage experience we want someone from that world involved. We look for life experience, personality and attitude over certificates because those qualities can’t be learned.
The guide who was key in the design of our Bond experience has served in the special forces and intelligence services and academically was an historian. Our Soho music experience was designed with a former ‘roadie’ in the music industry, getting him close up to the real stories, so all of the anecdotes guests hear are true. It’s fun getting them together for drinks! We’re happy to pay to listen to them talking about their experiences and their specialist topics! It’s another reason why we want our guests to experience that too, so for example on our Bond and City of Spies experience, there’s a Q&A session with drinks or food at the end of the itinerary. On The Gin Craze and Best Taverns in Town, the guests drink with the guides at each venue and can ask them anything.
You’ll find out the very deliberate and nationally coordinated reason why our British pubs were made to be so cosy and snug, why we have pub signs, why Big Ben is not actually called Big Ben. You’ll know about ‘dead letters’, ‘dry-cleaning’ and where the real ‘Q’, ‘M’ and ‘C’ had their offices. It goes on and on…
What are you most proud of when it comes to your business?
How quickly we achieved the goal of creating and bringing great products to market and the excellent reaction to them has been the biggest source of pride. We were very brave, indeed risky with many of them, but they were exactly what was needed to freshen-up an industry that rarely offers anything new. Customers writing to us to say how the day out made a birthday extra special, or how they have been inspired to learn more about the topics and content in our experiences. They also send lots of pictures. We’ve seen them dress in tuxedos, dinner gowns and even like Russian spies on the Bond day! The team we put together has been awesome, and a great source of pride for us too.
What’s your favourite experience, and why?
We all have our favourites which is to be expected as they’re designed for all ages and tastes. Our other co-founder Ana loves ‘Exotic East End’ because it combines incredible international food with the fascinating story of immigration and how London grew to be the city it is. Mine is a Day in the Life of James Bond because I could do it every week and learn something new about Bond, Fleming and the world of espionage. Best Taverns in Town is another favourite; I could do that every day after work given the chance!
Where would you like to see your business in 5 years’ time?
We’d like to be showcasing 50 or 60 cities or even more! Our concept is made to celebrate culture and entertain people and naturally we want to do that everywhere possible! Firstly, though we are creating more experiences around the UK. Scotland, Kent, Manchester, Liverpool and York are up next. After that we’ll see you in Paris, New York and Hong Kong!
As a small business founder, we’d love to hear your thoughts on why supporting start-ups and small businesses is so important.
Business is the lifeblood of an economy.
There is a necessity to have newer businesses with new ideas and ways of making existing products and services better and more accessible. Businesses that aren’t trying to build a national brand serve a community and give consumers a more intimate service.
Many of Britain’s greatest entrepreneurs have not been academics but had the right instinct so it’s a very important outlet to thrive in that space if academia isn’t for members of a generation. There are start-ups out there today that you haven’t heard of that will be employing 20,000 people in 5-10 years’ time.
That is an invaluable opportunity if as a country, we can continue to breed great new businesses and help them through the most vulnerable first stages. We can’t leave it to government. We benefitted from the Virgin StartUp programme and without it we would have been far more naïve. Organisations such as Virgin are essential.
