James Jenkins-Yates, 28, Tom Jones, 31 and Daniel Scott, 31
Company: Airsorted
Web: www.airsorted.uk

Truly brilliant ideas tend to foster others, and Airbnb is a case in point. The short-term letting business has triggered a number of property management start-ups dedicated to serving its client base but Airsorted has carved a niche in this vertical.

Airsorted offers a plethora of tenant management services including cleaning, laundry, key exchanges and even listing creation, removing all the hassle for its clients.

Although its key focus is Airbnb customers, it also services bookings from travel websites such as Expedia, Booking.com and HomeAway.

The idea for the company came when James Jenkins-Yates was trying to rent his home on Airbnb in 2014. Realising the amount of work involved for the host, and the lack of management services available at the time, he decided to jump in.

Jenkins-Yates built a website landing page and placed an ad on Facebook for £50. Then he recruited business acquaintances Tom Jones and Daniel Scott, who had experience in this field with Young Gun alumni onefinestay.

Together, they have overseen a remarkable growth story.

Since launch in 2015, Airsorted has generated over £50m in revenue for its hosts and established premises in 28 cities around the world, including Paris, Dubai, Auckland, Sydney and Dublin. The number of booked nights serviced by the company has increased three-fold every year and annual revenues are over £10m.

Although several rival start-ups are hot on its heels, Airsorted continues to stand apart due to its use of technology. The company has rolled out automated systems to smooth its operations, and dashboards which enable clients to track their property’s performance.

This meteoric development has certainly caught the eye of investors. Airsorted raised £1.5m in funding last year before completing a £5m Series A round in March, featuring Pi Labs and Atami Capital, and then securing a further £2.1m through crowdfunding.

Airsorted’s mission has always been to make home sharing hassle-free for everyone, and so now, the founders say, the focus is clear: “global dominance”.

They want to be present in 38 markets by the end of 2019 and explore new technologies, such as smart scheduling and automatic communication with the people staying in the properties. They say their holistic service is popular among landlords, frequent travellers and homeowners letting their home for a fixed period, ensuring a diverse and sustainable client base.

With Airbnb offering four million listings across 190 countries, the market for companies to piggyback on their service is huge.

Airsorted has already had huge success doing this, and the founders are firmly established among Britain’s top young entrepreneurs – as demonstrated in their appearance among the top 10 of our Startups 100 list for 2018.

James Marchant, 31
Company: Bionica Systems
Web: www.bionicasystems.com

In amongst all the futuristic ideas on this year’s Young Guns list, Bionica sounds like something of a throwback at first. It manufactures CNC machines, manufacturing tools essentially used to fabricate wood, metal and plastics.

But it soon becomes apparent that Bionica is at the cutting-edge – literally and figuratively.

Its suite of computer-guided products includes robotics, laser and plasma products, and founder James Marchant is one of Britain’s most disruptive tool-makers, having previously built the largest manufacturer of desktop 3D printers in the UK.

That business, Ion Core Zinter, gave Marchant the ideal launchpad to start Bionica, and it’s proved an inspired decision. The company came 41st in this year’s Startups 100 index and already has more than 100 customers across the UK, ranging from small businesses and advanced hobbyists to world-famous PLCs such as Nissan, Renishaw and Jaguar Land Rover.

Bionica delivers all its own machines and its service encompasses the full sales lifecycle, from initial design to on-site training and support.

The price point is extremely competitive and products are available for both desktops and freestanding units, providing valuable versatility to clients.

Targeting £1.5m turnover in 2018, Marchant is planning to open an office in Belgium to service surrounding European countries, increase the staff base from nine to 20 people and further diversify the product offering.

We can expect him to continue leaving his own very distinct mark on the manufacturing industry over the years to come.

Hayden Wood, 35 and Amit Gudka, 34
Company: Bulb
Web: bulb.co.uk

Founded in 2015, Bulb attests to being the fastest-growing energy supplier in the UK. It is in the vanguard of a band of bold young suppliers who have shaken up Britain’s £54bn energy market, and is already approaching half a million members in just three years.

Co-founders Hayden Wood and Amit Gudka want to offer an alternative to what they call the “dirty, expensive tariffs” of the Big Six.

Their vision is framed by the negative experiences they took from their previous jobs; Wood provided management consultancy to large energy suppliers, while Gudka traded energy at Barclays.

They felt the established energy companies were guilty of shoddy customer service, and charged customers far too much for their renewables. So they set about building a new kind of business, which would demystify energy tariffs and place customer service at its core.

Bulb derives all of its electricity, and 10% of its gas, from renewable sources, but the company does not pass ridiculous premiums onto its customers. Instead, it harnesses innovative technologies to keep prices down. In fact the company says it is 20% cheaper than the standard Big Six plan.

The homes and businesses that sign up to Bulb are described not as customers but as members, part of a mass movement dedicated to “greening up the grid” as the founders put it. They all receive the same flat energy tariff, and bills are delivered by email in clear, jargon-free language.

This strategy is clearly working. A record 5.5 million customers switched electricity provider in 2017, and Bulb has been one of the main beneficiaries of this new-found willingness to dump the Big Six. Last August the company had 100,000 members; within six months the figure had increased to 300,000, and the growth parabola has shown no sign of dipping: today, it has 780,000 members…

This development is even more impressive given Bulb has relied on word of mouth and social media. It also runs a referral programme, which gives both parties £50 whenever an existing member refers a new one. The Bulb website attempts to foster a sense of community, profiling high-profile members in its ‘Bulb heroes’ section.

Wood and Gudka insist they’re not do-gooders; they simply want to do “what makes sense for our environment and future generations.” Nonetheless the company has won acclaim for its strategy.

Independent website Trustpilot has consistently ranked Bulb its number one energy supplier, and USwitch gives an unequivocal five-star rating.

Now the founders are eyeing a fresh capital raise “that’s even simpler, cheaper and greener” than before.

They recently introduced a prepay programme as well as feed-in tariffs, which will allow the company to purchase energy from homeowners with solar panels. Installation of second-generation smart meters begins this autumn, and a dedicated innovation team, Bulb Labs, is exploring further ventures.

Andrew Jervis, 33 and Felix Kenton, 29
Company: ClickMechanic
Web: www.clickmechanic.com

It’s a nightmare you’ve almost certainly experienced at some point. And if you haven’t, you’ve probably been bored by the story of someone who has.

Finding a reliable mechanic is right up there in the list of life’s biggest hassles. But with a minority of sharks and hustlers lying in wait, how can we find someone who’s actually reliable?

Well that’s a problem ClickMechanic is solving through its double-sided online marketplace, which locates and provides quotes from vetted auto-repair shops.

The company has built an impressive reputation over the past six years under the leadership of Andrew Jervis and Felix Kenton, who were named among our ‘Five to Watch’ at last year’s Young Guns ceremony. Their website and app provide an end-to-end booking process linking UK car owners with independent mechanics and garages, and the founders says its essential attributes are “convenience, simplicity and reliability”.

Having started out with little more than a £100 AdWords voucher, ClickMechanic has grown rapidly thanks to its lean methodology and transparent service. Funding has since been proffered by a range of prominent investors including Forward Partners, Entrepreneur First and the former CEO of JustEat.

Over the next 12 months, Jervis and Kenton say they’ll be focusing on going international, as well as moving into the connected car space – building an app to sync with the dongles which can be plugged into car dashboards and search for faults with the vehicle’s management system.

Through the app, ClickMechanic will be able to send an automatic quote for any errors discovered, further reducing the hassle of hiring a mechanic.

Ultimately, the founders say they want to become the world’s most trusted resource for car repairs. It’s a daunting challenge, but one whose accomplishment will be welcomed by cynical motorists all over the planet.

Barney Cook, 30
Company: Eversmart Energy
Web: www.eversmartenergy.co.uk

Three years on from its foundation, Eversmart Energy appears to be running on rocket fuel.

The Manchester-based company, which harnesses leading-edge technologies to provide low-cost gas and electricity, is adding up to 7,000 new homes every week and founder Barney Cook is targeting a quarter of a million customers by the end of the year.

Eversmart’s headquarters lie in the shadow of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, a venue synonymous with sporting dominance. But Cook prefers to play the underdog, using smart energy to knock the ‘Big Six’ energy suppliers off their perch.

Every customer’s property is fitted with a smart meter, allowing customers to see their usage in near-real time. Now Eversmart are planning to provide solar and battery packs, so customers can store energy for the colder months.

Cook’s mission is to empower his customers and, to this end, he has prioritised top-class customer service. Eversmart’s website proudly claims that “a good supplier is one you shouldn’t have to call” and its suite of contact options includes an instant messaging service as well as Facebook and Twitter pages, and even an app on Telegram.

Cook and his team have just taken an additional 2,000 sq ft of office space to aid their rapid growth, creating a total of 9,000 sq ft of storage and administrative capacity. The staff will have ticked up to 100 people by the end of the year, and although the business is self-funded to date, Cook is eyeing external finance as he bids to sustain Eversmart’s remarkable growth rate.

The target is clear: Cook says that “every single home is a potential customer.” He might struggle to achieve this daunting objective, but he’s made a pretty good start.