Former RAF pilot George Begg swapped fighter aircraft for charter planes when he had the idea for the Global Travel Group. The company has formed a network of independent travel agents, which it provides with a range of services, such as booking software and accounting systems. It claims to have sold £500m worth of holidays last year on behalf of big operators such as First Choice. Two years ago it received a licence to start selling its own package holidays. A threefold increase in its network to 1,000 members has helped to boost profits 75% a year from £1.3m in 2000 to £6.9m in 2003.