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investing

Further Investment in Holibob, Fast Growth Travel- Tech

Having invested in travel tech brand Holibob in 2020,  Ryan Howsam continues to back the company with a commitment of a further GBP 2.5m 

Despite the on-going issues in the sector, Holibob has continued to show good growth, attracting a number of significant global travel businesses to use their technology. 

Craig Everett, CEO of Holibob said:

“To have the continued support of Ryan is hugely exciting for Holibob. Ryan brings a lot more than capital to the business, and has had a lot of belief in our vision from day 1. We are looking forward to working with him for years to come and continuing to build the business with his support.”

Ryan Howsam explained:

“Holibob sits naturally within my portfolio of travel related companies and I’ve been impressed with the founders’ tenacity and progress over the past year. I am excited to see them continue to grow with my backing.”

For more information visit holibob.tech

Legends Tour 2022 Dates Announced

LEGENDS TOUR ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL 2022 SCHEDULE


 

  • A minimum of 20 official events will make up the 2022 schedule with 15 confirmed today
  • Record prize money of over €15 million across the Legends Tour events
  • New events launched as part of 2022 schedule resulting in multiple new and returning international destinations
  • Exclusive Alliance Pro-Am experiences
  • The innovative Celebrity Series raising money for charity

 

The Legends Tour has today announced the schedule for the 2022 Legends Tour season, after two unprecedented years of restriction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Tour is looking largely superior than before, with over 20 events and record prize funds totalling over €15 million, across a variety of different countries and continents.

The 2022 season comprises of the refined Celebrity Series and a number of events in the ‘Alliance’ format, offering amateur golfers the opportunity to compete alongside the Legends of the game – a format unique in sport that brings golf fans a premium inside the ropes experience.

The Jersey Legends (10-12 June) will return to the schedule and will be played at La Moye Golf Club and is no stranger to elite competition, having hosted the Acorn Jersey Open in 2016 and is the home club of 1991 Masters winner and Legends Tour player Ian Woosnam.

The JCB Championship (29-31 July) at JCB Golf & Country Club in Uttoxeter, England is another confirmed new exciting addition to the calendar. The event will see a total prize fund of £600,000 and will be hosted by Ryder Cup and European Tour legend Darren Clarke with all profits being donated to JCB’s NSPCC Platinum Jubilee Appeal.

The Swiss Senior Open (8-10 July) will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2022 which is the longest-running tournament on the Legends Tour which has been held annually at Golf Club Bad Ragaz since 1997. The WINSTONgolf Senior Open will also celebrate it’s 10th anniversary in July.

The Sergio Melpignano Italian Senior Open (14-16 October) returns to San Domenico Golf in Savalletri, Puglia, Italy and will welcome the Legends Tour for its final stop on European soil before the final series of events in the Indian Ocean for the MCB Tour Championship which is being finalised and will be announced in the New Year.

Mark Aspland, Chief Operating Officer of the Legends Tour, said: “After two difficult seasons at the hands of the pandemic I am delighted that the rebranded Legends Tour is looking more prestigious than ever with a minimum of 20 events on the international schedule and a record prize fund of over €15 million.

“We are very pleased with the variety of new events featuring in the 2022 schedule including the JCB Championship and the Jersey Legends returning after the previous event in 2016.

“The Swiss Senior Open will see it’s 25th anniversary, which is a great milestone for the Legends Tour, along with the final series of events in the Indian Ocean for the MCB Tour Championship which is always a memorable way to conclude the season which I am very much looking forward to.”

Phil Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of the Legends Tour, said: “The impressive 2022 schedule is the result of great work from everyone at the Legends Tour, and with the unduly support of the Legends ambassadors it has proven pivotal to our growth.

“The Legends Tour is an integral part of the European Tour Group, and we are working in more international destinations than ever before. This co-aligns perfectly with our Legends Tour proposition by having long lasting relationships with specific destinations and supporting clients looking for premium experiences.”

 

Legends Tour 2022 schedule (confirmed events):

Start Date

End Date

Tournament

Venue

06/05/2022

08/05/2022

Riegler & Partner Legends, Austria

Golf Club Murhof, Frohnleiten, Austria

13/05/2021

15/05/2021

Spain TBC

TBC

10/06/2022

12/06/2022

Jersey Legends

La Moye GC, Jersey

17/06/2022

19/06/2022

European Legends Links Championship, hosted by Ian Woosnam

Trevose Golf & Country Club, Padstow, England

23/06/2022

26/06/2022

US Senior Open

Saucon Valley CC, Bethlehem, PA, USA

08/07/2022

10/07/2022

Swiss Senior Open

Golf Club Bad Ragaz, Bad Ragaz, Switzerland

15/07/2022

17/07/2022

WINSTONgolf Senior Open

WINSTONopen, WINSTONgolf, Vorbeck, Germany

22/07/2022

24/07/2022

Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex

Kings Course, The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Scotland

29/07/2022

31/07/2022

The JCB Championship

JCB Golf & Country Club, Uttoxeter, England

19/08/2022

21/08/2022

Irish Legends presented by McGinley Foundation

Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort, Co Donegal, Ireland

26/08/2022

28/08/2022

Staysure PGA Seniors Championship

Formby GC, Southport, England

16/09/2022

18/09/2022

Legends Open de France hosted by Jean Van de Velde

Golf de St. Cloud, Paris, France

23/08/2022

25/09/2022

Scottish Senior Open hosted by Paul Lawrie

TBC

30/09/2022

02/10/2022

Farmfoods European Senior Masters hosted by Peter Baker

TBC

14/10/2022

16/10/2022

Sergio Melpignano Italian Senior Open

San Domenico Golf, Savalletria, Puglia, Italy

Pitching for investment: How to impress

Does asking for investment fill you with dread? Do you let your age or experience hold you back? How can you make sure you make the right impression when pitching for money?

I am often asked for advice from businesses seeking funding and how to handle objections from potential investors. Entrepreneurs tend to worry they are too young, too old or that they don’t have the right education or experience. In fact, it doesn’t matter how old you are, how long you have been in business or what your track record is (within reason). What matters to me is you, how you can demonstrate you have what it takes, how well you can articulate your vision, how good your idea or product is and if your business idea really makes sense. This is particularly important in the times we are living in with the changing landscape since Covid-19.

The Basics

The most important thing that I would say if you’re going to approach a private investor is firstly make sure that the business can be articulated in 30 seconds or less. And, secondly, that whatever vision you’re going after you have a team who can demonstrate the capabilities to be able to deliver on it. Do you fully understand the market that you’re going into and who the winners and losers are? Do you really understand how other companies have won in this space? How will you win? And finally, do you really understand the financials and have a business model that makes sense?

As an investor, there’s no way I’m going to pay an overvalued amount. Have you valued your business correctly? You need to think about how the investor can get ten times their money, to take into account that they are going to lose some.

You

Forget the business for a moment, are you a good investment? If I give you my money for your business, I am investing in you as well as the idea. I therefore always look for evidence of resilience, vision, and an ability to inspire others with charisma. Can you articulate your vision in a way that gets people excited? Does it get me excited? Positivity and decisiveness are also important qualities.

All these things are traits I look for in entrepreneurs and business founders, because they are incredibly important in business. Make sure you cultivate them if you want to be an entrepreneur!

So what can make someone stand out to an investor?

It’s hard to define what makes a founder stand out who is looking for money. There is often that intangible quality or spirit that shines through. But, one thing that really does stand out to me is if someone has had it tough. Someone who can bounce back and is resilient. Is this you? Maybe you’ve failed before. Don’t be afraid to share that: I don’t see a problem with people who have failed. In the USA it’s the norm but in the UK they seem to think if someone fails it’s bad and clearly it’s not. You can fail many times until you succeed. That being said, you should never fail the same way more than once.

Secondly, do you think big? I am looking for people who think big but who haven’t lost their marbles in doing so. For example, I heard from someone building a yoga platform the other day who said they were going to have a billion people using their platform. There are just under 8 billion people in the world, so really there is no chance! Whilst it is important to be ambitious you really have to sensor check your big thinking so there is actually some reality in there as well.

Is this your first Rodeo?

Some investors will look at opportunities from entrepreneurs without a track record and some won’t. If an idea is good enough and well thought through, then not having a track record doesn’t make a difference to me. But what does matter to me is that the people with the idea will have the ability to deliver it. You can have a great business idea, but with people that don’t know how to deliver it, it will fail.

The World is Changing- Are You?

Given we are in the middle of a pandemic, it’s also important to look at the current landscape and appetite for investment in different sectors. We don’t know how long it’s going to last and what long term effects it’s going to have. But, it’s highly likely that over a period of time it will disappear. Or it will become a run of the mill thing like the flu. Every business has to look at several scenarios. In a normal market, and a “new normal” market how will your business perform? Investors may now look at a business in relation to Covid. In other words how will this business perform in a Covid world? How can you demonstrate to your potential investor that you have a plan for different scenarios? This is incredibly important.

Do you know what you want?

Before you talk to an investor, it’s a good idea to be clear in your head what you are looking for. In terms of deal structures you’ll find that depending on who you’re pitching, some people will just buy straight equity. Straight equity basically means they are just paying for the stock. Larger companies will put in loan notes and they’ll charge, so be wary of that as a business owner. If someone is putting in loan notes what they tend to do is roll up and compound against you. So just be very wary there as you can have your equity or your value wiped out very quickly with loan notes.

Investors will be looking for some protection, in some cases this may be personal guarantees, although be wary of these, but they may want some form of security, or preference over the company should it go bust. Often investors will be looking for an exit depending on who they are, in 3-7 years. I’m a little bit different as I’m not looking for exits in the short term. If something’s good long term I’m going to stick with it and keep going. 

If you are interested in investment and think you have the resilience and vision to impress, check out the application opportunities on my website here.

Latest Investment: Holibob

I’ve recently invested in Holibob, a B2B aggregator for global tours and experiences. The company currently partners with multiple international travel and lifestyle brands, providing them with access to 75,000+ tours, activities, attractions & experiences, across 2000+ cities in 150+ countries.  

With Holibob I saw a genuine opportunity to own a space, bringing together a disjointed market with technology. Tours is one of the fastest growing segments in travel, but it’s very fragmented and there is no central GDS ( Global Distribution Service). Holibob will change that, and I have no doubt they can go far with the right backing. Additionally, as part of the deal I have also found a way to add value to my own customers. I will be offering their tours and excursions to the millions of customers I have on my base, and have agreed preferential rates.

Craig and Angus, Holibob’s founders, applied for investment on my website back in May, and we entered into a number of conversations from pitch stage to refining a deal. I’ve been nothing but impressed by them. They are both very detail-oriented, know their stuff and they have put great people around themselves. The other investors and their associates bring a wealth of knowledge and contacts to the table, which really helps.

By bringing Holibob into my group, I want to give them a chance to grow from here. There’s no reason why they can’t pioneer the next generation of business to business and consumer tech in this sector. The travel industry may have been hit hard by the Covid19 pandemic, but now needs to adapt and develop solutions for the long term.

For companies seeking investment, I am still accepting applications via my website. The process is very simple and those who make the shortlist are invited to a pitch session over zoom.

Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. It is Howsam Limited’s policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect from you across our website, http://ryanhowsam.com, and other sites we own and operate.

1. Information we collect

Log data

When you visit our website, our servers may automatically log the standard data provided by your web browser. It may include your computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version, the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on each page, and other details.

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We may also collect data about the device you’re using to access our website. This data may include the device type, operating system, unique device identifiers, device settings, and geo-location data. What we collect can depend on the individual settings of your device and software. We recommend checking the policies of your device manufacturer or software provider to learn what information they make available to us.

Personal information

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Name

Email

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Payment information

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it’s necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract (for example, when we provide a service you request from us);

it satisfies a legitimate interest (which is not overridden by your data protection interests), such as for research and development, to market and promote our services, and to protect our legal rights and interests;

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We don’t keep personal information for longer than is necessary. While we retain this information, we will protect it within commercially acceptable means to prevent loss and theft, as well as unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.

That said, we advise that no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure and cannot guarantee absolute data security. If necessary, we may retain your personal information for our compliance with a legal obligation or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

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We may collect, hold, use and disclose information for the following purposes and personal information will not be further processed in a manner that is incompatible with these purposes:

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We may disclose personal information to:

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The personal information we collect is stored and processed where we or our partners, affiliates and third-party providers maintain facilities. By providing us with your personal information, you consent to the disclosure to these overseas third parties.

We will ensure that any transfer of personal information from countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) to countries outside the EEA will be protected by appropriate safeguards, for example by using standard data protection clauses approved by the European Commission, or the use of binding corporate rules or other legally accepted means.

Where we transfer personal information from a non-EEA country to another country, you acknowledge that third parties in other jurisdictions may not be subject to similar data protection laws to the ones in our jurisdiction. There are risks if any such third party engages in any act or practice that would contravene the data privacy laws in our jurisdiction and this might mean that you will not be able to seek redress under our jurisdiction’s privacy laws.

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Choice and consent: By providing personal information to us, you consent to us collecting, holding, using and disclosing your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. If you are under 16 years of age, you must have, and warrant to the extent permitted by law to us, that you have your parent or legal guardian’s permission to access and use the website and they (your parents or guardian) have consented to you providing us with your personal information. You do not have to provide personal information to us, however, if you do not, it may affect your use of this website or the products and/or services offered on or through it.

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Restrict: You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information. If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by contacting us using the details below. If you ask us to restrict or limit how we process your personal information, we will let you know how the restriction affects your use of our website or products and services.

Access and data portability: You may request details of the personal information that we hold about you. You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. Where possible, we will provide this information in CSV format or other easily readable machine format. You may request that we erase the personal information we hold about you at any time. You may also request that we transfer this personal information to another third party.

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At our discretion, we may change our privacy policy to reflect current acceptable practices. We will take reasonable steps to let users know about changes via our website. Your continued use of this site after any changes to this policy will be regarded as acceptance of our practices around privacy and personal information.

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This policy is effective as of 25 October 2019.