He also ventured that it was vital for the future of business in the UK that a business culture be instilled in children from an early age. When one student queried whether there might turn out to be negative consequences if too much business culture was allowed into the classroom, Sir Alan snapped, ‘I’m sick and tired of the “goody-goody” atmosphere in this country. I can see a court case coming from this question: you’ve stressed my child and I’m going to sue.’
This brought the discussion neatly round to Sugar’s own educational experience, and he was asked, ‘Are you now sorry that you did not stay on at school and possibly go to university?’
‘The honest answer is no – in my case I’m brighter than most of the students here,’ he quipped. ‘It’s a different era now, though. I’m often asked the question when I talk to students in schools, “Do qualifications matter?” And the answer to that is yes. The HR manager doing the recruiting can’t see your personality, so if the qualifications aren’t on your CV it goes in the bin. That might be unfair, but it’s the harsh reality. You need to get qualifications, otherwise you’ll be in the bin. You’ve got to have qualifications in order to achieve – it’s the way into your first job. In fact, staying on might have hindered me. I started my own company at 17; if I’d been in school I might have gone on to do a gap year or something and wasted even more time!’
Instead, he has kept moving onwards and upwards. In fact, quite literally upwards, for Alan Sugar has long enjoyed the delights of air travel. Whether as a pilot, or as a passenger in a private jet, he cherishes his time in the sky. There are no nagging phone calls, no emails, no disturbances. Perhaps it was during one of these journeys that he saw a gap in the private-jet travel market? He then launched a new company – Amsair, once more using an acronym of his initials to name the company. It seems he was ready to see his business instincts quite literally reach for the skies.
Amsair for a long while was managed by Sugar’s son Daniel, who proved his business acumen by making it a major success story. He had been ushered into the family business very early in his life, and he took no time in showing that his father’s faith in him was utterly justified. Daniel left school at 16 and went straight to work in the marketing department of Amstrad. It was a memorable first day for the teenage boy. His father took him to see Thomas Power, the head of marketing, and barked, ‘This is Daniel. This is my son. I want you to teach him all that marketing crap you lot go on about down here. I want you to teach him everything you know. If he gives you any talkback, send him up to me. And, if he doesn’t do what you tell him, throw him out the door.’
Power was very quickly impressed with young Daniel. ‘He’s got the bolshy, “Oh yeah, I’m a trader, I’m a banana salesman, and I’ll sell you a satellite dish on the side” attitude,’ said the marketing manager admiringly.
And so on to the Amsair project. The thinking behind Amsair was simple enough. Many rich, successful and famous people live the dream of travelling via private jet. As we have seen, Sugar has been known to fly by private jets often, and even to fly them himself on occasion. It might seem flash, but who, in his shoes, wouldn’t fancy a bit of private travel? However, Sugar has gone one better by starting his own private-jet charter company. That way, he can feed his own love of private jets, by making money out of them.
Amsair Executive Aviation was formed in 1993, and is used by pop stars and businesspeople for their exclusive travel. An international aircraft charter company, it provides private-jet charter across the globe, with an extensive range of private jets, which includes the UK’s largest owned fleet of Cessna Citation Excel aircraft. The firm’s private-jet charter fleet is split into four sections: Turbo Prop Aircraft, Entry Level Private Jets, Mid-Size Business Jets and Heavy Aircraft. Technical details aside, the project can be summed up as: if you’ve got the money, they’ve got the jets.
However, the flights themselves represent only one aspect of what Amsair can offer their clients. They also offer executive jet charter consultancy and air charter concierge services. As Amsair’s literature proudly boasts, they believe their customers deserve the best private jets available, which is why their aircraft charter department steps in the moment you book your trip and accommodates your every need. It is all part of the glorious Amsair experience. The attraction of all this to the wealthy is obvious. As anyone who has travelled in the air in recent times will know, it is a form of transport fraught with stresses and irritants; everything about air travel seems to have become more difficult and more perilous. Firms such as Amsair are perfectly positioned to cash in on this discontent. ‘No more long queues at airports, no more security worries,’ reads the proud blurb on the company website. ‘A private jet for just you and your guests. You fly from your chosen airport to your chosen destination at a time that suits you! You depart from a beautiful private lounge away from all the hustle and bustle, where you can be sipping champagne waiting to board one of our luxury private jets.’ No wonder they have so many people queuing up to use their services.
Daniel Sugar oversaw the development of the many services that Amsair offers clients. ‘We are set up rather differently from most private-jet companies,’ he explained. ‘The aircraft are brand new. We offer pretty much a concierge service for private clients. We look after every detail from the moment a client has booked.’ This is no small detail, but rather a fundamental selling point for Amsair, which distinguishes it from much of the competition. Food is just one example of how Amsair can personally tally their service to what clients demand, as Daniel Sugar explains. ‘Clients may want a meal ordered from somewhere else, and we’ll organise that. We’ll also be flight-tracking to check for any possible delays and we’ll triple-check the car transfers at either end of the journey.’ Anyone who has had the dubious pleasure of standard airlines’ catering will immediately grasp both the significance and appeal of services such as this. Likewise, those who have arrived at a new destination exhausted from a long flight only to find that the car they had arranged to get them to their hotel has fallen through will see the attraction of a company that so thoroughly checks arrangements.
It is for these, as well as other reasons, Daniel argues, that Amsair truly stands out thanks to its method of operating, and the range of services it offers. ‘It’s the attention to detail that gives someone the leading edge. Rather than being price-led, the big corporates prefer to use us because we get the service right. Our tailor-made package is really a bit different to our competitors.’
Their fleet of Cessnas is used to ferry British business chiefs to their meetings. ‘We want to cut out the middleman and tell them if you charter our plane we will guarantee an excellent service at an excellent price,’ said Daniel.
It is a company that has captured the imagination of the aviation industry. ‘Start-up Amsair eyes gap in business market’, announced the Flight International trade paper at launch. Daniel Sugar told the journal, ‘There is a gap in the market for high-quality transatlantic business travel.’
In August 2004, they encountered a noticeable jump in business, and were delighted that their Citation Excel planes were 25 per cent busier than in the previous month. There was more good news the following month when their new Raytheon Premier One charter aircraft received its full certification for public charter. This was no small technical detail, as it actually opened up a whole new set of business opportunities for Amsair. Spokesman Philip Cartwright was delighted at this development: ‘This plane offers a larger cabin than almost every entry-level jet and together with its unrivalled in-flight performance it allows our clients to get from A to B quicker, more comfortably and more economically than if they used other entry jets. Being that it’s the only Premier 1 in the UK for public charter, the demand for this particular aircraft is very high.’ They based the new fleet at Luton Airport, just north of London.
In November 2004, the Amsair fleet swelled again. Complete with 13 double club seats, two beds, screens and DVD players, the Embraer Legacy bu
siness jet was a fantastic option for long-term travel. As Daniel Sugar said, ‘We are really excited about this plane; we see that this aircraft will be a workhorse for some of our VIP clients in the entertainment and showbiz industries as well as corporate executives.’ Within weeks, the Embraer Legacy became the first jet of its kind to be fully certified for steep approach landings at London City Airport (LCY). This was highly significant, as Daniel explained, ‘I think it’s going to make a huge difference; in fact, we’ve had quite a few charters already out of LCY, and the charter order book is already looking very encouraging for clients based around that area. It’s very convenient for clients based near by who want to fly long-range in significant comfort. Ours was the first Legacy to be approved for LCY. It’s a huge benefit, not only for London City, but for short runways in general.’
All in all, 2004 had been a great year for Amsair, with an increase in turnover, profit and fleet size, and they opened a new office in Vienna, Austria. In 2005, the company went a step further and opened a branch in America, which was located in Boca Raton, Florida. As a proud Daniel Sugar put it, ‘The opening of our US office will give our client base even greater flexibility and will allow Amsair to further enhance its existing client base within the American marketplace.’
Meanwhile, the Embraer Legacy jet had proved such a success with Amsair clients that the company bought a third plane. ‘It is a superb aircraft and clients have really taken to it,’ said a jubilant Daniel Sugar. Soon, this jet was included in the United States Visa Waiver Program, which made life much easier for everyone.
Make no mistake, all this is more than just hype. You can really judge the success of a company on how satisfied its customers are, and Amsair boasts plenty of satisfied clients. One such person was Michele Melliger, a 24-year-old graduate who wrote an article for the Daily Mail’s ‘Femail’ section about luxury air travel. For Christmas, Melliger’s mother had bought her a luxury trip to Paris, including travel by private jet courtesy of Amsair. ‘I could barely catch my breath as I opened the envelope my mum handed to me two weeks before Christmas last year,’ wrote lucky Michele. ‘In it were two tickets for a weekend in Paris flying by private jet and staying at the £600-a-night George V Hotel close to the Champs Elysées. Mum has always been generous at Christmas, giving me designer clothes, diamond jewellery costing upwards of £2,000 a piece, plus holidays to Miami and the Bahamas. But this was the ultimate present.’
Having encountered private air travel, Michele and her mother concluded ‘that there’s really nothing to rival flying by private jet’.
It was quite an experience for the pair. It started in a plush lounge at London City Airport, where they had to wait only minutes before being escorted to their private jet. Her mother had paid just under £15,000 to hire a six-seater plane from Amsair. Michele noted admiringly that there would be plenty of room for them to put their shopping on the return flight. As they settled into the plane, they sank into the cream leather seats, kicked off their shoes and curled their toes in the deep-pile carpet. They were served Moët & Chandon bubbly and canapés on takeoff. After a blissful weekend in Paris, shopping in the French capital’s many designer boutiques, they flew home, again courtesy of Amsair. ‘When it was time to fly home on the Sunday, we arrived at the private airfield just outside Paris around ten minutes before we were due to take off,’ gushed Michele. ‘This was definitely the beauty of flying in style – you skip all the dreadful waiting of normal air travel. Once again we were greeted with champagne and canapés, rounding off the most amazing Christmas gift.’
Other satisfied customers are queuing up to offer positive testimonials of their Amsair experience. The chief executive of the Multi National Electronics Corporation said, ‘Amsair provide a service of the highest level. Their flexibility, dedication and ability to meet any schedule has been invaluable to the growth of our European business.’ Pop stars and music industry chiefs have been loyal customers of Amsair, and the chairman of the US Music Group summed up the feelings of many customers when he said, ‘In our industry we rely on service, reliability and flexibility. Amsair have constantly delivered all three of the above. When we place our clients on an Amsair plane, we can relax.’
The CEO of Worldwide JET Charter Broker added, ‘Amsair is absolutely essential to our everyday business, whether it is a charter flight to or from London, Moscow or the Middle East. Amsair accommodate all our requests with the utmost attention to detail, they offer the ultimate in quality, reliability and professionalism. It is a pleasure having a working relationship with the team at Amsair.’
Having offered private jets to wealthy clients who travel to sporting events such as World Cup 2006 in Germany – this was probably as close as Sir Alan wanted to get to football after his ‘White Hart Strain’ experiences – the company had a gaming tie-in of a different kind in September 2008, when Amsair was named as the official airline of the World Series of Poker Europe. The deal was a great coup for Amsair, and it allowed Betfair Poker customers exclusive and discounted rates on any of the private jets in the extensive Amsair charter fleet. Philip Cartwright, Amsair’s executive aviation sales director, expressed the firm’s delight at this deal. ‘We are constantly looking at new opportunities and ways to expand the business,’ he said. ‘The poker community is one of the fastest growing and affluent in the world. It makes sense for our two companies to be aligned and offer our services to the High Rollers at Betfair.’
The head of Betfair Poker, Bruce Stubbs, was equally overjoyed. ‘We are delighted to have concluded this deal with Amsair,’ he said, beaming. ‘Betfair Poker are happy to provide a unique experience to our customers and what better way than to arrive at the largest and most prestigious poker event in Europe on an private jet provided by Amsair.’
However, for the majority of us, most of our knowledge of Amsair comes from one of the tasks in the second series of The Apprentice, when the contestants had to produce a television advertisement for the business – a neat way of bringing the company’s existence to the attention of millions of television viewers without having to pay for advertising, and without subverting any broadcasting rules.
But, inevitably, the fact that Amsair is run by Sugar’s son Daniel has rankled with some sour observers, as evidenced in the ‘City Spy’ column in the Evening Standard, which reported, ‘The product they advertise is a booking card for Amsair, Sugar’s executive jet business. It is run by his son, Daniel, who makes his debut on the programme. What’s that? You thought Sir Alan was a tough-minded meritocrat?’
It seems the connection between Amsair and The Apprentice could have continued beyond the show’s airing. After the second series finished, Sugar offered one of the contestants, Paul Torrisi, a job on the show. ‘Yes, Sir Alan called me down to London and, yes, he offered me a job,’ said Torrisi. The runner-up continued, ‘Immediately after the programme had finished, Alan Sugar rang and asked if I’d come to London to meet his son Daniel. They wanted me to work at Amsair but I decided not to. I also got a call from a fund company offering me £4 million for my property portfolio. I thought, I’ll take that, thank you.’
Torrisi went on to explain that Sugar’s proposition had come on a particularly significant day for him. ‘Coincidentally, it was the same day my wife gave birth. He wanted me to work for his private-jet company Amsair, but he said, “Paul, you’re probably going to be inundated with offers and maybe you should come back to me in one or two years’ time.”’ So it seems the pair went their separate ways.
As did Amsair and one of its best-known and more controversial clients, Richard Desmond, the extremely wealthy British publisher, owner of Express newspapers, and founder of Northern & Shell, which publishes OK! and Star magazines.
Despite his huge personal fortune, estimated as being at around the £550 million mark, when Desmond flew using the Amsair jets, he reportedly still tried to cut himself a special deal to receive a discounted rate for his flights with the company. But it seems he was given
short shrift, as Sir Alan revealed in April 2007. ‘Desmond doesn’t use Amsair any more ’cos he’s a schnorer,’ he snapped.
The Daily Express slammed a series of The Apprentice as ‘Big Brother on wheels’ under the headline ‘Sugar’s Bitter taste of failure’. Sugar was unmoved.
‘His coverage of the current series is pathetic,’ he said.
These clashes aside, Amsair continued to soar. With the much-publicised credit crunch of 2008, one might think that luxuries such as private jets would have been the first cutback as people and businesses very much tightened their belts. As banks massively reduced their lending to each other because they were uncertain about how much money they had, the result was more expensive loans and mortgages for ordinary people. A more noticeable result, though, was a general air of financial uncertainty from the man and woman on the street to the millionaire in the boardroom. Daniel Sugar acknowledged that Amsair was aware of this, and was ready to cope it. ‘We are mindful of the fact that the economy isn’t marvellous at the moment and, as it’s a competitive industry, we can’t be too expensive. We are not going after huge turnover. We have long-standing clients – about 60 to 70 of them – but they come back to us because we don’t let them down. We run a lean machine and are clear in what we offer.’ That lean machine continues to offer a great service, and looks set to climb to even greater heights in the future.
Just as Sir Alan enjoys the benefits of private air travel as both a businessman and customer, he also likes to travel in style on the road. It is the dream of many aspiring millionaires to own that most prestigious of cars and traditional symbol of wealth, the Rolls-Royce. As a man who has worked hard and cleverly, in order to amass a huge fortune, Sir Alan has treated himself to a taste of the Rolls-Royce experience. His most famous ‘Roller’ down the years was the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The car almost became a celebrity in its own right, thanks to the memorable footage of it when it first appeared as his mobile office in the second series of The Apprentice, replacing the 1998 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph of the first series of the hit reality show. As motoring magazine Autotrader puts it, ‘They don’t come more luxurious than his old Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Goodwood-built four-door saloon powered by a 6.7-litre V12 engine producing 453bhp and a titanic 531lb/ft of pulling power. This engine accelerates the 2.5-ton prestige car from 0–62mph (100kph) in just 5.9 seconds and on to a limited top speed of 149mph.’
Sir Alan Sugar Page 13
