Click Travel has secured a multi-million pound investment from BGF following a period of technological advancements and new client wins.
Headquartered in Birmingham, the TMC was founded in 1999 by brothers Simon and James McLean – CTO and CFO respectively. The company offers clients its travel.cloud technology platform, which replicates the look, feel and usability of a consumer site.
Click Travel was ranked number three for new business, number two for fast-track growth and 14th overall in the 2018 edition of BBT’s 50 Leading TMCs.
It has also been inaugurated into Tech Nation’s Future Fifty, a government-backed programme for late-stage digital businesses that lists Deliveroo, AO and Skyscanner among its alumni.
BGF is an active investor in growing businesses, having invested £1.5 billion across more than 230 companies.
Its investment in Click Travel will allow the TMC to deliver its vision for the future.
Jill Palmer, CEO of Click Travel, said: “Click Travel has grown rapidly in recent years thanks to a great product and brilliant people. Our mission has always been to reduce the cost and complexity of travel management, which has enabled us to drive the expansion of the business.
“BGF’s long-term approach is the right fit for our business model and our future plans. Equally important, we have got to know the Birmingham team, their ethos and culture well over the past two years. We are looking forward to working with them and connecting into their wider network.”
Mark Freer, an investor at BGF who will join the board of Click Travel, added: “Jill, Simon and James are a fantastic management team with a combination of deep market knowledge, creativity and professionalism. They have established a strong reputation across a loyal customer base and operate in a market with significant growth potential. We’re delighted to be backing them.”
BGF has another investment in the travel sector, and since April last year has invested £3.4 million in direct booking platform Triptease. It was also a long-term investor in TMC Statesman Travel Group, and between October 2011 and May 2017 injected funds totalling £4.2 million, exiting in December last year when it was acquired by US-based Travel and Transport.
The Click Travel investment was led for BGF by Freer, Aaron Baker, Will Copeland and Tim Rea.
clicktravel.com; bgf.co.uk