Entrepreneur · Investor · Keynote speaker

One shop at 19. No return ticket.

Founded his first business, Travelworld, at 19 and grew it to 130 shops. Chairman of Huddersfield Town at 29. CEO at FTSE 100 Thomas Cook. Six exits, including a $100m-plus sale to Snap. Terry Fisher brings 44 years of deal-making to conference stages, boardrooms and podcasts, with keynotes and fireside chats on building, fixing and selling a business.

Book Terry to speak See the talks

Coming soon: Terry on The Business Leader Podcast with Sir Richard Harpin

Terry Fisher, arms folded, smiling in an office — Keynote speakerTerry Fisher Taking bookings

Departures London --:-- · Spain --:-- · Los Angeles --:--

1982, Travelworld, founder, aged 19.1982TRAVELWORLDFOUNDERAGED 19
1992, Huddersfield Town, chairman, aged 29.1992HUDDERSFIELDCHAIRMANAGED 29
1998, Travelworld, founder, sold to Airtours with 130 shops.1998TRAVELWORLDFOUNDERSOLD 130 SHOPS
2008, Gold Medal, chief executive, sold to Thomas Cook.2008GOLD MEDALCEOTO THOMAS COOK
2009, Thomas Cook, chief executive, took charge.2009THOMAS COOKCEOTOOK CHARGE
2012, Thomas Cook, bidder, 400 million pound rescue bid.2012THOMAS COOKBIDDER£400M RESCUE
2020, Voisey, investor and director, sold to Snap for over 100 million dollars.2020VOISEYINVESTOR$100M+ TO SNAP
2022, OH4, investor, invested.2022OH4INVESTORENERGY SAVING
2026, V1 Energy, founder and chief executive, ready for take-off.2026V1 ENERGYFOUNDER/CEOREADY FOR TAKEOFF
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44 years in business · 6 exits · 1 speaker Full itinerary

Founded · led · backedThe fleet

TravelworldFounder

Huddersfield TownChairman Airtours

CEO

CEO

Founder Flats in LeedsChairman DigiMapps voiseyAcquired by Snap

OH4Investor

V1 EnergyFounder & CEO

As seen inPress & TV

The Telegraph

Sport

City A.M.

TechCrunch

Daily Express Travel Weekly TTG Music Business Worldwide

Huddersfield Examiner TravelMole Travolution

On stage & on airStopovers

RISE UP London2025 Business Leader PodcastComing soon F12 MastermindRetreat 2021 Dewbs & CoGB News BBC Radio Leeds2004 Grown Up BusinessPodcast The Steven Sulley Study The Luxury Home Show Money School Success School The Chris Naugle Show Beyond the Words

The numbers behind the stories

The logbook.

Age he founded his first business, a Travelworld shop in Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield, in 1982.

Travel Weekly ↗

Age he became chairman of Huddersfield Town in 1992, the youngest chairman in professional football.

Travel Weekly ↗

£86.5m

Gold Medal's sale to FTSE 100 Thomas Cook in 2008, after Terry took it from a £1.0m loss to £6.4m profit in three years.

Travel Weekly ↗

£400m

Rescue bid for Thomas Cook in 2012, backed by Invesco, the group's second-largest shareholder.

Evening Standard ↗

60x

Return for Terry and his investors on Voisey, the music app Snap bought in a $100m-plus deal in 2020.

Music Business Worldwide ↗

The itinerary

No direct route.

Travel, football, property, publishing, tech and now energy. Six industries, plenty of connections, no straight line: back the right people, move faster than the market and know when to sell.

1982Slaithwaite

Travelworld

At 19, Terry opened a travel shop in Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield. Travelworld grew to 130 shops, the UK's largest remaining independent travel chain, and was sold to Airtours in 1998.

FounderTravel Weekly ↗

1992Huddersfield

Huddersfield Town

Became chairman of his home-town club at 29, the youngest chairman in professional football. Town went to Wembley twice, won promotion in 1995 and moved into the new Alfred McAlpine Stadium. In 2003 administrators accepted his group's bid to rescue the club. He came out of football without the losses most owners take.

ChairmanWembley 1995 ↗

1999UK

Going Places

Airtours made him managing director of Going Places, then put him in charge of its whole UK retail arm: Going Places and Travelworld combined, around 800 shops. He set out to shake up the culture.

Managing directorTravel Weekly ↗

2004Leeds

Leeds United

Led the Yorkshire consortium, assembled by Zeus Capital with former Leeds captain Trevor Cherry, that went after Leeds United while the club was in freefall. Two weeks in the numbers, then he walked away. In 2008 Gold Medal's Netflights.com, then run by Terry, went on the Leeds shirts.

Consortium leadThe Guardian ↗

2006UK

Gold Medal

Came in to run loss-making Gold Medal Travel Group. In three years he took it from a £1.0m loss to £6.4m profit, and in 2008 he led its £86.5m sale to FTSE 100 Thomas Cook.

CEOThomas Cook RNS ↗

2009London

Thomas Cook

Became CEO at Thomas Cook, running Gold Medal, Pure Luxury, Elegant Resorts, Netflights.com and Thomas Cook Tours. The same year he received the Business Achievement Award at the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame.

CEOTravel Weekly ↗

2012London

The Thomas Cook bid

He put together a £400m rescue package for Thomas Cook, backed by Invesco, the group's second-largest shareholder. The Financial Times broke the story; the board said no. When Thomas Cook collapsed in 2019, Travel Weekly reported it could have been saved.

BidderThe Telegraph ↗

2012California

Mapperarti & DigiMapps

Founded Mapperarti in Newport Beach, making bespoke maps and apps for luxury hotels, with 60 contracts including Jumeirah, Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt at launch. DigiMapps and Nutshell WiFi followed in 2017.

FounderTravel Weekly ↗

2020London

Voisey → Snap

Founding seed investor and board director of Voisey, the London music-creation app whose users recorded more than 11 million songs. Snap Inc. bought it in November 2020 in a $100m-plus deal: a 60x return for Terry and his investors.

Investor · DirectorMBW ↗

NowYorkshire · Devon

V1 Energy & OH4

Director of V1 Energy Solutions and an investor in OH4, cutting the energy that commercial buildings waste on heating and cooling.

Founder · InvestorVentures ↓

NextYour venue

Your stage

Keynotes, fireside chats and panels for audiences who want the real story of building, fixing and selling businesses.

SpeakerCheck availability →

Terry Fisher seated on stage beneath a giant screen showing his name at RISE UP London — On stageRISE UP London · 2025

Terry Fisher smiling and gesturing on stage in front of a Retreat 2021 presentation screen — Retreat 2021

GB News promotional graphic: Michelle Dewberry and Terry Fisher, What does today's travel announcement actually mean? On air from 6pm — GB News · Aug 2021

Speaking

Choose your route.

No borrowed frameworks. Terry talks about what it actually takes to start, scale, turn around and sell a business, including the calls that didn't go his way.

Six businesses, six sales: Travelworld to Airtours, Gold Medal to Thomas Cook, Voisey to Snap and more. How to build a business someone wants to buy, and how to sell it well.
- Getting sale-ready years before you sell
- Creating competition between buyers
- What acquirers actually pay for
Enquire about this talk →
At Gold Medal, Terry took the business from a £1.0m loss to £6.4m profit in three years and led it into FTSE 100 Thomas Cook. How you fix a business at pace, and what it costs you.
- The first hundred days
- Deciding who stays on the team
- Using brand as a turnaround tool
Enquire about this talk →
How a 19-year-old with one shop in Slaithwaite built Travelworld into the UK's largest remaining independent travel chain against the biggest names on the high street, and what challenger brands can still take from it.
- Winning customers the giants ignore
- Growing without losing the culture
- Knowing when to sell to the competition
Enquire about this talk →
A £400m rescue bid for Thomas Cook, backed by its second-largest shareholder. A consortium for Leeds United. A Football League chairmanship at 29. Stories about ambition, risk and what you do when the answer is no.
- Backing yourself when the stakes are public
- Raising serious money quickly
- Walking away from a deal
Enquire about this talk →
From a music app bought by Snap to energy-saving technology for commercial buildings: how Terry chooses founders and sectors, and when he doubles down.
- What he looks for in a founder
- Old-economy experience in new-economy businesses
- Why energy, and why now
Enquire about this talk →

Formats

Keynote
After-dinner
Fireside chat
Panel
Masterclass
Mastermind
Podcast & broadcast
Private boardroom

Audiences

Founders
Leadership teams
Sales teams
Travel industry
Investors & PE
Business schools
Sports business

Recent stages & studiosAdd yours →

Coming soonThe Business Leader PodcastIn conversation with Sir Richard HarpinSoon ↓ 13 Sep 2025RISE UP London“$100M Deals with Terry Fisher”, EartH, HackneyReplay ↗ 23 Jul 2025The Luxury Home ShowA tour of Terry's London home, and the story behind itWatch ↗ 29 Jul 2024The Grown Up Business PodcastWith Paul Avins, founder of F12 MastermindListen ↗ 23 Nov 2023The Steven Sulley StudyAmbition, leadership and the Thomas Cook bidWatch ↗ 19 Jan 2023Money School“From start to profitable sale in just 18 months”Listen ↗ 5 Aug 2021GB News · Dewbs & CoWith Michelle Dewberry on the UK's travel rulesWatch ↗

2021Retreat 2021F12 Mastermind and Grown Up Business

Coming soon · The Business Leader Podcast

Next departure: Sir Richard Harpin.

Terry sits down with the founder of HomeServe, owner of Business Leader and author of How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps, to talk about building, fixing and selling businesses. The episode is on its way.

Book Terry for your event Follow Terry on LinkedIn ↗

Listen to The Business Leader Podcast ↗

Terry Fisher holding a copy of How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps, in conversation with Sir Richard Harpin

Ventures

Current heading: energy.

After travel, football and tech, Terry's attention has turned to energy: cutting the power that commercial buildings waste on heating and cooling.

Founder & CEO

V1 Energy Solutions

Less energy. Evidence you can check.

V1 installs the OH4 system in data centres, care homes, hotels and commercial estates, and measures the savings from real meter readings, one building at a time.

Est. 2026 · Yorkshirev1-energy.com ↗

Investor

OH4

Fit-and-forget heat transfer for commercial heating and cooling.

The Devon-based manufacturer behind the system V1 installs. Terry has backed OH4 through its development and calls it potentially his best investment to date.

Investor since 2022 · Devonoh4energysaving.com ↗

Also backed Zero Zero One TravelFlats in Leeds

Terry Fisher with his son Harry on Harry's graduation day — Graduation day.

Terry Fisher holding Harry as a baby — Where it all began.

A personal chapter · Father & son

Handing over the controls.

Backing my son Harry. Building V1 Energy.

Some people would be nervous about handing the keys to a business to their son at 22. For me, this is a moment I've spent his whole life preparing him for.

Harry has grown up around my businesses: listening in on calls, being part of the conversations and seeing first-hand what it takes to build something. The learning started long before he had a job title.

Now he's putting that experience to work with V1 Energy Solutions, bringing OH4 technology to commercial heating and cooling systems. I'm there to share what I've learnt and support him as he makes the business his own.

I've backed plenty of businesses over the years. Watching my son take the controls is the one that means the most to me, and he has a long way left to climb.

Explore V1 Energy

A younger Terry Fisher laughing with Harry as a small boy — Long before the job title.

V1 Energy Solutions · Bringing OH4 technology to commercial heating and cooling

Gallery

Stamps in the passport.

Stages, studios and good company, from RISE UP London to Anthony Joshua. Every stop leaves a stamp.

Terry Fisher on stage at RISE UP London — StageRISE UP London

Terry Fisher taking a selfie with Grant Cardone — In good companyWith Grant Cardone

Terry Fisher arm in arm with boxer Anthony Joshua — In good companyWith Anthony Joshua

Terry Fisher with Gary Brecka on a balcony above the Miami skyline — In good companyWith Gary Brecka

Terry Fisher and Gary Brecka being filmed in a kitchen — In good companyFilming with Gary Brecka

GB News graphic featuring Michelle Dewberry and Terry Fisher — BroadcastGB News

Terry Fisher speaking at Retreat 2021 — StageRetreat 2021

Terry Fisher at an outdoor table with Grant Cardone and other attendees at 10X — In good companyRound-table at 10X

Terry Fisher being filmed for an interview, camera screen in the foreground — StudioOn set

Terry Fisher seated between Grant Cardone and another attendee at 10X — In good companyAt 10X

Terry Fisher in a pink shirt making a point across a desk — BoardroomWorking session

Terry Fisher at an outdoor table with Grant Cardone, a golf course and towers behind — In good companyDebrief at 10X

Terry Fisher on a balcony above a lit marina at night — Off dutyAfter hours

Terry Fisher in sunglasses, arms folded, outside a glass-fronted building — Off dutyWest Coast

Press room

The paper trail.

Twenty-five years of coverage and conversation, from the travel trade to the back pages. Every link goes to the original source or an archived copy.

Music Business WorldwideExit

Snapchat acquires mobile music app Voisey

Names Terry Fisher among Voisey's original seed investors.

20 Nov 2020Read ↗

Thomas Cook Group plcExit

Thomas Cook acquires Gold Medal

The stock-exchange announcement credits Terry, as CEO, and CFO Steve Bacon with turning a £1.0m loss into £6.4m EBITDA.

18 Dec 2008Read ↗

Travel WeeklyInterview

Thomas Cook “failed to grasp rescue chance in 2012”

Revisiting the £400m rescue plan the board turned down.

2 Oct 2019Read ↗

For organisers & press

For the ground crew.

Copy-ready words for your event programme and your MC, plus a high-resolution headshot. Speaker bureaus and agents are welcome.

Short bio · 62 words

Terry Fisher is a British entrepreneur, investor and keynote speaker with six exits. He founded Travelworld at 19 and grew it to 130 shops, chaired Huddersfield Town at 29, led Gold Medal's £86.5m sale to Thomas Cook and became CEO there. A founding investor in Voisey, sold to Snap for $100m-plus, he is now a director of V1 Energy Solutions.

MC introduction · 30 seconds

Our next speaker opened his first travel shop at 19 and grew it to 130 shops before selling the chain to Airtours. At 29 he became chairman of Huddersfield Town, the youngest chairman in professional football. He sold Gold Medal to Thomas Cook for £86.5 million, then put together a £400 million bid to rescue Thomas Cook itself. He was a founding investor in Voisey, sold to Snap for more than $100 million. Please welcome Terry Fisher.

Full bio · 150 words

Terry Fisher is a British entrepreneur, investor and keynote speaker with six exits behind him. He opened his first travel shop in Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield, at 19, and grew Travelworld into a 130-shop chain, the largest remaining independent in the UK, before selling it to Airtours in 1998. At 29 he became chairman of Huddersfield Town, the youngest chairman in professional football, taking the club to Wembley twice and to promotion in 1995. He later ran Gold Medal Travel Group, taking it from a £1.0m loss to £6.4m profit in three years and leading its £86.5m sale to FTSE 100 Thomas Cook, where he went on to become CEO. In 2012 he put together a £400m bid to rescue Thomas Cook itself. He was a founding investor in Voisey, the music app Snap bought in 2020, and is now a director of V1 Energy Solutions and an investor in OH4.

Headshot · 3000 × 3000 JPG

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