About
Richard Downs is Chairman of Spice Advisory Pte Ltd in Singapore, the parent firm of Spice Taxation and Spice Capital, and is a Director of Spice Taxation. Before joining Spice in June 2025, he spent nearly three decades building Iglu.com, the online travel business he founded during the final year of his MBA at London Business School and grew into the UK’s largest online ski and cruise retailer, before its sale to Flight Centre Travel Group for circa £130m in 2025.
Richard took his BSc at Loughborough University and trained as a chartered accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, qualifying in 1991 at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He spent his early career in the City, moving from PwC to ABN AMRO and then Salomon Brothers, before the MBA at London Business School he completed in 1998.
Since exiting Iglu, Richard has focused on early-stage investing and board work. Alongside chairing Spice Advisory, he is a partner in Spice Capital and Chairman of Not In The Guidebooks Ltd, appointed in 2026 as the alternative-experience travel platform entered its next phase of growth.
Iglu began as his final-year MBA project. From a small office in Baker Street he built a website that let independent skiers compare, price, and book chalets through a single online agent. When the site launched at the 1998 SkiShow in London Olympia, most operators still ran their own bookings by phone; Iglu’s early bet was that consumers would prefer one shop over twenty if it was staffed by people who could actually ski. It worked. Iglu expanded into cruise in 2006, acquired Planet Cruise in 2013, and grew to a gross turnover of circa £500m before its exit to Flight Centre.
Along the way, Richard was profiled in the Financial Times as an ‘off-piste pioneer’ of the early online travel industry, took Iglu into the Sunday Times Top Ten UK Fastest-Growing Companies, was named to the Times 40 under 40, and was named UK MBA Graduate of the Year by The Guardian in 1998 as well as winning that year’s European Business Plan of the Year. The London Business School has twice given him its Alumni Accomplished Entrepreneur Award, in the Emerging Business and Established Business categories (2016 and 2019). He is a longstanding member of the LBS Enterprise 100 private investor group.
Outside work he is a keen skier, Vice President of Wimbledon AFC, and once coached the London Business School women’s 7-a-side rugby team, who won the World MBA finals in North Carolina (1997).
Education
- Loughborough University of Technology, BSc, 1988
- London Business School, Master of Business Administration (MBA), 1998
Certifications
- Member, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ACA), 1991
Memberships and affiliations
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- Enterprise 100 (e100) private investor group
Board and committee roles
• ex-Board Member, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA)
Recognition
• Times 40 under 40
• Winner (twice), London Business School Alumni Accomplished Entrepreneur Award: Emerging Business and Established Business categories (2016 and 2019)
• Sunday Times Top Ten UK Fastest-Growing Companies (Iglu.com)
• UK MBA Graduate of the Year, The Guardian (1998)
• Winner, European Business Plan of the Year (1998)
Prior career
• Founder and CEO, Iglu.com (Sep 1998 to May 2025), online cruise and ski retailer, sold to Flight Centre Travel Group for circa £130m in 2025
• Senior Accountant, Salomon Brothers Inc., City of London (1994 to 1996)
• Accountant, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., City of London (1992 to 1994)
• Senior Accountant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, City of London (1988 to 1992)
Current roles
• Chairman, Spice Advisory Pte Ltd, Singapore (Jun 2025 to present)
• Director, Spice Taxation Pte Ltd, Singapore
• Partner, Spice Capital, Singapore (Jun 2025 to present)
• Chairman, Not In The Guidebooks Ltd (2026 to present)
Teaching, lecturing, and academic roles
• Guest speaker, London Business School entrepreneurship classes
• Mentor for entrepreneurs, London Business School summer school (10 years)
Conferences
• Invigilator of discussion, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales conference, Singapore (2025)
• Speaker, ABTA annual conference, Turkey (2018)
Additional areas of interest
• Keen skier
• Football: Vice President, Wimbledon AFC
• Rugby: coached the London Business School women’s 7-a-side team, who won the World MBA finals in North Carolina (1997)
Selected media
Founder story (2004 to 2014)
• Telegraph, “Internet start-up finds key to success on the dotcom slopes” (2004)
• Financial Times, “Hallmarks of an entrepreneur” (2005)
• Telegraph, “Budget 2012: the Budget jury” (2012)
• Telegraph, “Win a £25,000 MBA course” (2012)
• London Business School, “An entrepreneur’s story, Richard Downs” (2013)
• Financial Times, “Off-piste pioneer” (2014)
Scaling and recognition (2016 to 2020)
• London Business School, “Lawson Conner and Iglu founders recognised by LBS” (2016)
• The Times (Sunday Times 100), “A programme designed for taking the piste” (Sunday Times 100 Fast Growth)
• TTG Media, “Iglu.com, TTG Top 50 Nationwide Winners” (2020)
Exit and next chapter (2025 to 2026)
• The Times, “Suitors warm to Iglu” (2025)
• Travel Weekly UK, “Not In The Guidebooks secures investment” (2026)