Lastminute.com Still Thriving

Lastminute.com is one of the few first-wave internet dot-com success stories still around. Unlike hundreds of other first-wave internet success-failures, Lastminute.com will mark a decade of successful operations this year. The anniversary comes during a massive wave of consolidations forced by market conditions, including the failure of XL Leisure, Britain’s third largest tourist package operator.

‘The difference between Lastminute.com and the dotcom firms that didn’t make it is that it was actually a good idea and a sustainable business,’ says Lastminute.com’s chief executive, Ian McCaig. ‘At the time, it was possible to raise money for the unlikeliest projects but when I look back at the original business plan, it is not fluff.’

Lastminute.com was the brainchild of Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox, who both became the poster-children for e-success. Their business model was exceedingly simple, and their product was plentiful. They would take “distressed inventory” such as theatre tickets or vacation rentals that were yet to sell, and they would sell them at a reduced rate. Their market flotation, in 2000, quickly brought a market capitalization of more than 500 million dollars. ‘Lastminute.com was born into a much hyped sector, topping it by doing its IPO the day before the dotcom crash,’ says McCraig.

Websites offering similar services has cropped up in the years since the founding of Lastminute.com and sites such as Expedia and eBookers offer much the same services with many of the same vendors, but for many in the UK and parts of mainland Europe, Lastminute.com is still at the top of the heap. Happy Birthday Lasminute.com, and congratulations.

Learn more at: www.lastminute.com