A Brief History of HI Group Sport & Travel
Ian Radford moved to Marbella in 1989 , and worked as a Squash Professional for 2 years. In 1992 he took over the ownership of a Sports Club in Marbella called “Club Leisure Sport.” With Club Leisure Sport as his base Ian developed a Sports Travel business, which specialized in Training Camps for Professional and amateur Football teams, Golfing breaks and sports breaks for Squash and Tennis Groups.
In 1998 this company was rebranded as HI Sport & Travel, and became a subsidiary of a larger group called Holiday International, an Italian company who were the main sponsors for two Serie A footballclubs, AS Roma and SSLazio.1998 also saw HI Sport and Travel organise its biggest event to date. The “Scandinavian Championships” held in Marbella. This was televised in 3 countries reaching 14 millions viewers, and included the top 12 teams from Scandinavia.
Ian then spent 2 years working in the Football Agency business concentrating his efforts between Italy and Scandinavia. This allowed him to continue to grow his network of contacts, and was further complimented in 2001 when he joined forces with Huddersfield Town Commercial Director Wayne Elliott. This new partnership gave HI Sport & Travel a stronger presence in the UK, and allowed it to grow its market share in English football. This partnership also created another arm to the business which would specialise in the Commercial side of Football.
The HI Group had been born, and with the Sport & Travel division along with a Sports Marketing Division it held a strong presence in the Football market, both commercially and in terms of Football travel.
HI Group Sport & Travel is now established as the leading destination management company for professional football clubs throughout Europe.
