Tom Marchant and James Merrett

Underpinned by the motivation to create rare travel experiences to excite and amaze, Black Tomato was created by Matt Smith, Tom Marchant and James Merrett in 2005. With £20,000 in savings, and operating initially out of Marchant’s bedroom, sales at Black Tomato have grown by 75% year on year.

James Merrett & Tom Marchant

Friendship, travelling, talking and planning, took three friends from dreaming to pursuing their dream. Conversations round a campfire deep in the Australian outback became a burning reality in 2005. Underpinned by the key motivation to create those rare bespoke travel experiences to excite and amaze, Black Tomato was created by Matt Smith, Tom Marchant and James Merrett in 2005.

‘We received a small government-backed loan in 2008 (now available through major banks as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee) to help get our otherwise self-financed venture off the ground.’

With £20,000 in savings, and operating initially out of Marchant’s bedroom, sales at Black Tomato have grown by 75% year on year from £1.3m in January 2006 to £6.8m in 2009. In the last 12 months the company has grown 10% despite the challenging economic times.

‘Growth has been achieved through a variety of means; by effective marketing operations; by creating an additional service line to complement our work organizing people’s holidays, which applied travel expertise to events and incentives for major corporate brands around the world; but most importantly by continuing to deliver those exceptional travel experiences that created a great word of mouth buzz around the brand.’

In 2011, the company launched a new travel company and two new media platforms, the best fashion and beauty editorial for beach culture and an online lifestyle magazine that focuses on the passions that inspire people to travel.

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