Information AboutEasygroup |
The easyGroup, founded in 1998, is the holding company controlling the “easy” ventures; it is privately owned by Stelios Haji-Ioannou . Many of the companies follow the "easy" format of taking away the frills in something to make it cheaper overall, plus using the Yield Management system of supply and demand. In the last few years the company has started to franchise the businesses to expand, and cut down costs. It is based in the Rotunda in Camden Town , London , United Kingdom . HISTORY The first of the 'easy' companies was the No Frills airline, EasyJet , started in March 1995 . Four years later, in 1999, an Internet Café chain, easyEverything (now easyInternetcafé) was opened, with the first located in London. In April 2000 the company set-up the Car Rental company, easyRentacar (now easyCar) and, later, the internet shopping comparison site, easyValue, firstly in partnership with Kelkoo, then switching to Shopping.com. On 21 August 2001 , the Credit Card company, easyMoney was set up with Accucard (now part of Lloyds TSB ), which was expanded on 14th February 2005 with the announcement that unbundled car insurance products provided by Zurich would be sold later in the year. The 23 May 2003 , the Cinema company, easyCinema at the Point cinema in Milton Keynes was opened, offering screenings from 20p if booked well in advance. The cinema initially struggled as major distributors were not prepared release new films to the company using the yield-management model. First run films are now available, but at fixed prices. The cinema has also relented on not serving Popcorn and drinks (claimed to save on cleaning costs); these are now available for £1. To counter the bus company, Megabus , the company started easyBus on the 30 July 2004 . December 2004 was an active period for easyGroup. On the 9th December 2004 , the men's toiletries range easy4men was launched together with Boots . easyJobs, a partnership with Monster.com , began operation on 11 December 2004 . On the 17 December 2004 , the company lanuched easyPizza, a Yield Management delivery-only pizza company in Milton Keynes. This was followed quickly by easyMusic, in conjuction with Wippit, on 22 December 2004 , with copyrighted music downloads offered from 25p, although minimum transaction value is £1 and there are charges for using credit cards and SMS payment methods. easyCruise The no frills Cruise Liner targeting the 18-40 age-group, rather than the traditional retired market, was launched on Friday 6 May 2005 . The service operates night-time departures calling between ports in St. Tropez , Cannes , Nice , Monaco , Imperia , Genoa and Portofino . It is possible to join the ship at any port and stay for a minimum of two, to a maximum of fourteen nights. Prices vary according to cabin type and demand. In a departure from the model employed by EasyJet it is possible to book via travel agents as well as direct through the easyCruise website. Recently easyCruise has annouced the winter departures, calling at Barbados , St Vincent , Martinique , The Grenadines , Grenada and St Lucia . The cabins offer a simple bed and bathroom: most do not have windows and use of a maid service during the stay will incur an additional charge. Stelios revealed that the initial idea of requiring customers to be responsible for all room cleaning or incur a penalty charge “didn’t go down too well.” {Link without Title} easyCruise, based in Liberia , is a wholly owned subsidiary of easyGroup. The service is managed by V Ships of Monaco. The launch and early days of easyCruise are being tracked for a Sky One documentary. easyMobile easyMobile started on , although there was an introductory offer until the end of June (2005) of 6p per minute and 2p per SMS. One popular feature is an 'auto-topup' facility which debits the users' credit or debit card when phone credit falls to a preset level. Many customers have found this a useful intermediate between usual pre-pay and contracts. Per-second call charging significantly lowers call costs particularly when roaming. easyMobile's competitors commonly charge for the first minute and per-second there after. Rival mobile service, Orange , is suing easyGroup as it claims the use of the orange easyMobile logo breaches its trademark and may confuse customers {Link without Title} . easyGroup challenges this assertion. The easyMobile operation is inspired by Telmore , a Danish Mobile Virtual Network Operator , using the TDC Mobil network. According to The Daily Telegraph, the service is struggling to be a success {Link without Title} . In April it was announced the easyMobile will expand into the Netherlands by {Link without Title} . easyCinema DVD Rental The 10th March 2005 saw the commencement of easyCinema DVD Rental, first announced in November 2004. This is a partnership with Video Island, the company operating rental services for several other retail brands. However, unlike many on-line DVD rental services, there is no monthly subscription but the user purchases credits at £1.99 each (minimum purchase is 4 credits). One credit permits one DVD rental and a maximum of three DVDs can be rented at one time. For customers renting one disc per week the offering is competitive to the subscription services, which typically allow one rental at a time, charging around £7.97 to £9.99 per month. EASY COMPANIES
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