Businessman sets sites on global growth

Matt Parks, who comes from Peterlee, set up independent travel comparison site 1Plus2Travel, in August 2013.

The firm now boasts 2.2m users around the world each month.

Around 60 per cent of its audience is from the United States, with 25 per cent from the UK, and 15 per cent from other countries. The total audience figure is increasing by around five per cent each month.

The site allows users to sift through hundreds of travel companies for best-price flights and hotels.

Matt set up the firm due to his interest in travel after previously working as an airline cabin crew member, a radiation therapist, and also in the dentistry field.

He aims to further grow the business in the States, develop his website in a range of languages, and help 1Plus2Travel break into the mainland Europe markets. The 27-year-old also wants to add a car hire service and online travel agency.

Matt, who co-directs the company with Miami-based Alex Rahe, said: “We are now a team of eight – with four staff members in the UK and four in the US - with a customer base which extends from the Britain to America, and other countries around the world.

“Our growth has been beyond anything I expected but we are not resting on our laurels and want to build on the success we’ve seen so far by further increasing our fast-growing audience of established travellers across the world.”