Easy brand stretches from flights to car rentals

EasyGroup, the company owned privately by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is most well-known for its easyJet brand, the budget airline. The group has also created a number of other ‘easy’ companies since its founding by the Greek entrepreneur in 1998.

Some of the operations have dissolved or been reorganized, such as the no-frills chain of cinemas and the company offering travel toiletries for men, easy4men.com.

The EasyGroup is London-based, but registered in the Cayman Islands, meaning that there is little disclosure required regarding the group’s various companies. At least 17 brands are listed on the group website, but data from Companies House suggests that four of those listed have been dissolved.

The 41-year-old businessman describes himself as a ‘serial entrepreneur,’ and is listed as chairman or director of more than a dozen of the constituent companies.

One of the group’s companies most troubled recently is easyCar, a rental car operator with outlets in mover 50 countries. Although it has nearly doubled its revenues recently, easyCar is reporting a fall in profits of 60 per cent for the year ended 30 September as compared with the previous year, according to Companies House figures.

Profits for the rental car company dropped significant from approximately £3 million in 2006, to less than £500,000 for the year ended 30 September, largely due to competition from other rental car companies offering cheap Internet deals.

www.easy.com