Travel Seen has acquired a majority stake in one of the UK’s leading luxury ski specialist, Oxford Ski Company.

This follows a string of acquisitions in late 2023 and the acquisition of eShores in late 24 taking the collective group Total Travel Value ‘TTV’ to over c£55million, a clear shift in momentum.

Travel Seen group is headed by industry expert Jen Atkinson and backed by Arete Capital Partners.

Mike Fletcher, Partner at Arete Capital said:

“This investment reflects our continued focus on partnering with high-quality, owner-managed businesses with strong growth potential and differentiated market positions. Oxford Ski Company brings a compelling combination of brand strength, specialist expertise and an established high net worth client base. The alignment between the teams creates a strong foundation for long-term value creation.”

Mark Gibbons (CEO) and Rupert Longsdon (Founder and Chairman) will remain at the helm post deal, retaining a meaningful equity stake, to ensure continuity of service to their loyal customer base. Oxford Ski Company specialises in curating high end ski experiences both chalets and hotels in the world best ski resorts catering for UHNW market in the UK and globally.  

Longsdon remarks:

“I am super proud of the journey and growth of Oxford Ski Company to where it is today, this investment represents an exciting new chapter in the continued growth of the business.” 

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Travel Seen’s focus is on value creation once acquisition targets are onboarded; with value drivers in brand creation, operational excellence and lead generation.

Atkinson said:

“We have searched for experienced, high growth travel businesses and our investment in Oxford represents our biggest and most transformational investment to date. Tthis next investment represents a step change in the scale and credibility of our growth and M&A mission. One of the most important factors when investing is the quality of the team and what Mark and Rupert have built over time is enviable. We are excited to welcome Oxford Ski Company into the Travel Seen family and look to continue making further investments as we grow, both organically and through further investment”

Fletcher added:

“Since our initial investment in Q3 2021, we have backed Jen’s vision to build a challenger brand in the Travel industry. Over the last 12 months, the business has deployed an M&A strategy which plays to Jen’s strengths and mirrors the success story of her previous experience scaling ITC Travel to a £90 million TTV group prior to exiting”.

Travel Seen is a social first luxury travel group which, over time, will build the most authentic and engaged travel community in the UK. Travel Seen will create inspiring and authentic travel content and deals, directing customers to book these via its curated network of travel companies.

Atkinson said:

“The opportunity for building travel brands in the social space is huge” says Atkinson, “other sectors such as fashion and beauty have been hugely disrupted by social media and we hope to lead the way similarly, in the travel sector.”

Sam Davies, Deal Advisory partner at Cowgills, advised on the transaction and said:

“This transaction represents a highly complementary addition to the Travel Seen group and further momentum in its growth strategy.” 

Travel Seen was advised by Cowgills for Corporate Finance (Sam Davies, Brett Marsden, Tom Roberts and Ben Day), Hill Dickinson for Legals (Matt Noon, Alexander Thow, with banking provided by Shawbrook capital, Tony Dean). Private investors included Dez Derry of Family Investments.