TOP BUSINESS AWARD FOR ACTIVE HOTELS’ ENTREPRENEUR

Cambridge, UK – Dr Andrew Phillipps, CEO of Active Hotels Ltd., one of the leading providers of online reservations to the European hotel industry, has won a coveted award at the Central region finals of this year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

At a ceremony held at The International Convention Centre in Birmingham, Andy received the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award. A major international awards programme, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards seek to recognise and celebrate the achievements of outstanding entrepreneurs whose ingenuity, hard work and perseverance have created and sustained successful, growing business ventures.

Andy co-founded Active Hotels in 1999 with Adrian Critchlow, after identifying the opportunity for an online sales and distribution channel in the highly fragmented hotel market. The company developed an innovative system that enables hotels to sell their rooms through a wide network of partner websites. Active Hotels receives a commission from the hotels for every reservation delivered through its system.

The judging panel was particularly impressed with Active Hotels’ innovative technology and efficient systems, which have enabled them to continually adapt their website to meet customers’ needs. They also felt that the business idea was a simple concept that had been well executed, and that the firm had huge future growth potential.

Active Hotels’ service offers real-time available hotel rooms, and has more than 2,500 UK hotels and 1,500 European hotels registered, as well as over 1,500 partnering and network websites providing the consumer customer base. The company is going from strength to strength and is now processing over €130 million of reservations per annum.

Andy Glover, Entrepreneurial Services Partner in Ernst & Young said: “Andy’s ongoing drive and determination to constantly innovate and grow his business is truly impressive. He epitomises the quality of entrepreneurial talent we have within the region and I am glad that Cambridge will be so well represented at the national final.

“Both Andy’s achievements and the many success stories we have seen tonight go to show that the region’s companies are still weathering the harsh economic climate, and emerging tougher and fitter.”

Commenting on the success of Active Hotels, Andrew says, “Active Hotels is growing from strength to strength, due in large part to a dedicated team that has invested every effort in making Active Hotels what it is today. This is a huge boost for the company; it is so encouraging to have our achievements recognised. We expect to continue to expand our business into the European hotel industry and to develop our service to become the definitive solution for hotels wishing to successfully capture the market for online bookings.”

Andy Phillipps and his fellow Central region award recipients, who were selected from 39 finalists, will go through to the national final in October, from which the Overall National Entrepreneur Of The Year will be selected to represent the UK in the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in 2004.

About Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards

The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards now take place in 28 countries around the world with nearly 10,000 entrepreneurs competing at regional, national and international level. The awards are in their fifth year in the UK, where the programme is co-sponsored by London Stock Exchange, The Times and UBS Wealth Management. Open University Business School, Aston Science Park and mustard.com are award sponsors in the Central region, Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards 2003 programme.

About Active Hotels

Active Hotels is one of Europe’s leading online reservation providers to the hotel industry. It is currently processing over €130 million worth of bookings per year. Active Hotels creates mutually beneficial partnerships that enable both hoteliers and distribution partners to participate in the growing market for online hotel reservations.

Active Hotels offers the best choice of hotels and room prices available across Europe. At present, the company has over 4,000 partner hotels, with 2,500 in the UK and 1,500 in Europe. It is also actively growing its hotel base across Europe, in Italy, Germany, Spain, Holland, Belgium and many others. The company promotes these hotels across its 1,500 partner websites, making each hotel visible to over a million Internet users each month.

The service Active Hotels offers is easy to integrate and use and provides a reliable source of revenue for hotels and distribution partners.

Launched in Cambridge, England in 1998 by Andrew Phillipps and Adrian Critchlow with a team of just five employees, Active Hotels now has over 35 talented people working under a strong and experienced management team.

For further information on Active Hotels please visit: http://www.activehotels.com

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