Duston-born Gareth O'Sullivan didn't take the stereotypical route out of school - at just aged 21 he is the founder of cheap flight and hotel search engine Orbis Explorer.
After struggling to kick start a game server and his own clothing line at 18 years old - while working full time - Gareth decided the industry was too saturated and instead was driven to work in his spare time, at weekends and in the evenings to make his third business venture a success.
The 21-year-old travel blogger has now visited over 23 countries and has amassed a social media following of over 140,000 followers after showing a keen interest in travel and lifestyle.
He said he can see the project receiving sustainable monthly returns in the future as popularity continues to grow.
He said: "Being a frequent traveller and a travel blogger, I’ve always had a passion for the travel industry. I used to always use online travel agents but didn’t like the fact they added fees sneakily.
"A lot of other travellers I’ve spoken to also said the same, and so that’s when Orbis Explorer launched - an online search engine that queries hundreds of airlines and travel sites returning the cheapest prices for flights and hotels without adding any additional fees."
The aim of Orbis Explorer is to help other people explore the world as freely and for as little cost as possible.
The search engine works by searching hundreds of airlines directly and travel sites to find the cheapest options. Orbis Explorer then receives a small percentage from their partners for helping explorers find the cheapest price.
Some of the cheapest excursions the firm has sourced are flights to Vienna for 2p, Copenhagen for £15, Barcelona for £32 and Iceland for £72 - all of which are return flights, Gareth said.
He added: "It’s very rare you come across a bargain flight that costs 2p - that’s a return ticket too.
"In order to grab bargain flights like that, it’s important you sign-up to airline newsletters and utilise flight search engine sites regularly. It was Thursday, July 5, the day I received a notification from my own flight and hotel search engine, Orbis Explorer, that notified me of the special advertising sale that Vueling had announced.
"They announced it as part of a new direct route to Vienna. Veiling had released a certain amount of flights available at 1p each way from London Gatwick to Vienna, covering a variety of dates from July to December. The standard fare for Vienna, Austria is around £100-£200, depending on the month and departure airport. Anything less is considered a very good deal.
"The return price of 2p included a single cabin bag along with a personal item like a laptop. As soon as I had received the notification from my search engine, I immediately went to book the tickets. It took a few attempts due to the website itself becoming very slow and eventually timing-out users due to the incredible offer. Shortly after receiving the notification from Orbis Explorer, I received an email from Jack Flight’s Club mentioning the offer too. When you come across an amazing sale like that, there’s no second guessing…just book."
Similarly built to other search engines, Gareth's search engine is able to browse for flights with various filters, including setting a specific price range and now he's added a low fare price calendar that displays cheap prices for various months.
He added: "From the feedback we’ve received, we thought the next step would be to launch a hotel search engine, and so that’s what happened, built within the website. There are many more exciting updates coming in the future.
"Vienna, I’m looking forward to seeing you early September! Bratislava? You’ll be next, for just £24."