Marchmont Ventures

A Director of Marchmont Farms Limited, leading a 6 year restoration of Marchmont House, with plans to now bring it alive as ‘a Home for Makers and Creators’ in the Scottish Borders. Hugo is a Patron of the Borders Art Fair and is in the process of founding Marchmont Chairs, a charity dedicated to making fine traditional rush seated chairs, keeping alive a village tradition started by Ernest Gimson, one of Britains greatest architect designers and pioneer of the Arts & Crafts movement.

Hugo co-founded HOWZAT Partners which has made over 50 early stage digital investments so far – including trivago, spotahome, academia.edu, Just Spices – and enjoys investing in purpose driven businesses.

Hugo was CEO of Momondo Group, the travel search business operating the momondo and Cheapflights brands that sold to The Priceline Group in 2017. He lead the Company for the last 6 years, but has been on the journey from a 2 person Wandsworth attic operation in March 2000, with highlights including pioneering the Cheapflights Boston office in 2003 and leading the acquisition of momondo in 2011.

In 2018, Hugo was inducted into the British Travel & Hospitality Hall of Fame in April, having also won the Travolution Industry Achievement award in 2016. Whilst in 2008, Hugo won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, in the Travel Industry Hall of Fame. A graduate from Sidney Sussex College in Geography, Hugo enjoys exploring & pondering the conundrums of our wonderful planet.

Hugo has a love for design & technology improvements that shape our future, but believes in balance, with a particular passion for the grounding values of the Arts & Crafts movement, arts and crafts today, iphone photography, exploring the UK and walking.

As a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience, he has held senior management roles in a wide range of businesses primarily in creative fields including Ubisoft, LEGO, ITV, Disney and BBC Worldwide. He has a particular interest in the online travel, price comparison, media and video/online gaming sectors.

Most recently, Alan served for 6 years as CFO of Momondo Group, a travel search business. During this time, he helped to grow revenues five-fold, integrated a significant overseas acquisition, raised £80m in private equity funding and oversaw the sale of the business to Priceline in 2017 for $550m. He learned a lot on this journey and is keen to share this experience with businesses looking to grow, create and disrupt.

Outside of work, Alan is a keen runner, cyclist and nostalgic Manchester United fan. He also enjoys embarrassing his two teenage sons whenever the opportunity arises. As an Economics graduate of Southampton University, he maintains a keen interest in global economic and political affairs.