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This year the company boasted a client spend of pounds 100m and booked more than 1 million room nights worldwide. It has long run the hotel booking desks at Heathrow airport and operates a similar service at the travel centre in London's Regent Street.The company has embraced new technology: it runs a state-of-the-art computerised hotels database which allows Expotel to store guest profiles, including company spending limits.HILARY CLARKEHey, good cookin'IoS winnerS&A FOODS is one of only a handful of firms to have appeared in the Independent on Sunday's rankings four years in a row. With the economy robust, the phones at the company's headquarters in a narrow street tucked behind Kilburn High Road, London, are constantly buzzing. The business has been going for 26 years, but in its present form it dates back to September 1991, when Mr Segal and his colleagues at Room Centre/Hotel Booking International bought Expotel from the Keith Prowse receivers.With over 200 staff at offices in Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester, Expotel has 20,000 corporations and organisations on its books, including the Ministry of Defence.
Placed 23rd in last year's Independent 100 listing of Britain's fastest-growing companies, over the past 12 months the business has gone from strength to strength. "We would invest pounds 1m in the project if it were in London."Segal may have missed the boat on Britannia but he has plenty of other ships in the sea. "No other country in the world would think of putting a vessel of such prestige anywhere but in the capital," said Mr Segal. Mr Segal complained that the Royal Yacht Britannia was not staying in London but would go to Manchester or Edinburgh.As head of one of the UK's leading hotel, conference and events reservation companies, Mr Segal saw a golden opportunity missed to turn the yacht into a prestigious conference venue. He pledged that should the Government change its mind, his company would invest heavily in the development of any commercial venture. But there are other applications: ambulance services can use it to guide vehicles to accidents, while transport companies can keep track of their lorries.The company still has only 125 employees, keeping costs low. Although phone sales have risen dramatically as prices fall, margins have been squeezed.
Nevertheless, says Mr McFarnon: "The market is looking very buoyant for four to five years."ROGER TRAPPExpotel booked upIoS winnerSHORTLY before Christmas, Prime Minister Tony Blair received a stern letter from Maurice Segal, chairman of Expotel. Though the business will not contribute to earnings this year, it is expected to make healthy profits in the next 12 months.The Racal joint venture,Orchid, uses digital, cellular and satellite technology. It has obvious security implications in that it can help trace stolen cars. Tag is a response to the firm's recognition that most mobile users buy at least one accessory, ranging from batteries and chargers to cases.Having tried to buy an accessory company, it decided to set up its own to get in on another part of the buoyant market and build on its service. It has announced a move into supplying phone accessories, under the name Tag, and launched a joint venture with Racal for a global positioning system that can be used to track vehicles. "We're hoping to grow along the same lines in the second six months," said John McFarnon, the group managing director.Already active around the world, the Slough-based operation wants to expand into related areas. In the last full year turnover climbed to pounds 144m, while in the six months to September sales grew from pounds 52.9m to pounds 81.9m.