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A people-led corporate travel manager sells reliable human support when online booking tools cannot handle disruption.
£4M in 2020 and £32M in 2022 (founder-reported)
A remote, people-first travel desk can win when booking software runs out of answers: “You have to be 10% braver.”
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Helen Cannon founded Isobar Travel in 2013 after time away from work raising five children. She brought marketing and client-service experience, while a friend introduced her to travel. The opening was a gap between self-serve booking tools and travelers who still needed a knowledgeable person. She started with a laptop and one employee, funded the company herself, and kept overhead low with remote work. After about four years, repeat clients and strong service feedback convinced her the model had room to grow. During COVID, the company chose to hire and diversify into private-jet travel while competitors contracted. Founder-reported turnover rose from about £4 million in 2020 to £32 million in 2022; the interviewer later cited £68 million for the previous year. Isobar now supports corporate programs across five countries, with local teams and acquisitions helping it enter markets where clients already needed coverage.
For an Isobar-style corporate travel desk, first customers come from organizations already feeling the cost of unmanaged travel: finance leaders, office managers, executive assistants, and people leads whose staff lose hours when flights change.
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Data credibility: The interviewer reported £68M for the previous year and an £80M possible current-year target; Cannon directly cited turnover of about £4M in 2020 and £32M in 2022. The figures are not supported by audited statements in the interview, and the conversation does not clarify gross booking value versus net revenue or margins. Treat the evidence as creator-reported scale, with some earlier figures founder-reported.
For this model, the first dollar should attach to a corporate account’s travel program, with a clearly scoped service fee or transparent transaction charge the buyer can approve. Isobar’s value is a person taking responsibility when a traveler is stranded, requirements change, or a flight is cancelled.
Isobar’s compounding loop began with client retention. After about four years, Cannon saw that the company was winning accounts and keeping them; clients described the team as an extension of their business.
For Isobar, the hard stretch was a travel shutdown that removed normal demand just as the business had to decide whether to contract or invest. Keep fixed costs low before a shock arrives: Cannon says the team was already remote, avoided expensive office commitments, and had built the business without outside funding.
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