Describe your job:
Chief executive of Low Cost Travel Group, incorporating lowcostbeds.com, lowcostholidays.com and Resorthoppa. My role involves strategically growing the business, employing people who are better than me and managing them. I still go out and contract. Basically, it’s a bit of buying, selling, hiring, firing, strategy and technical stuff.

Who reports to you?
Six people, including Lawrence Hunt!

What’s the best thing about the job?
I don’t have to listen to corporate bullshit and I can get stuff done really fast.

And the worst?
I never switch off. In five years I have had six days off. Also, there’s a risk associated with running your own business, and the fact that you never want to let anyone down.

What one thing (either invented already or still to be invented!) could help you do your job better?
The ability to slow down and take a look at the business. It’s a good business that is moving quickly.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about the business?
That I understand the whole process now, from setting up a business, to bonding, licensing, systems and dealing with banks. When you work for a corporate, you get to deal with elements, but you don’t get involved in everything about the business. Setting up on my own enabled me to fill in the holes and all the bits that I didn’t know. 

And how is business?
Very very good as you will see from our six-month trading statement, reported earlier today on e-tid.com. [Lowcost reports H1 profit]

How do you read the industry’s business overall?
Getting better especially over the past couple of weeks, as we see from the trade partners we supply. Lates are getting very strong.

What’s the biggest challenge facing your industry sector at the moment?
Getting sales.

How would your staff describe you?
No idea – ask them!

Who do you most admire in the industry?
I have huge respect for Peter Long for what he has achieved at First Choice and now TUI. I learned so much from Peter Rothwell, and I greatly admire Clive Jacobs.

Are the days of entrepreneurs in the travel industry long gone?
Not at all. It’s still possible to be entrepreneurial, even in the current economy. The barriers to entry are much higher, for example, dealing with banks, credit card companies, licensing. The industry has change and it is not as one dimensional as it was, and therefore it is more exciting.

Outside of work, how do you spend your time?
Walking the dog, spending time with my kids, doing my garden, swimming, playing sport and being interested in history and current affairs. I spend a lot of time in Majorca with my girlfriend.

What’s your favourite place to fly in to?
Majorca

Which, as yet, unvisited destination would you like to go to?
Mongolia – I want to ride a yak and get lost in the wilderness for a while.

And now for the quick-fire round:
Pie or paella? Paella
East Grinstead or Palma? Palma
Kate Winslet or Penelope Cruz? Penelope Cruz
easyJet or Ryanair? easyJet
Speaking or listening? Speaking
MyTravel or First Choice? MyTravel
Low cost bed or high cost gym? Low cost bed
Piers Morgan or Simon Cowell? Neither