A failed attempt to start a business aged just 13 didn’t dampen Aden Levin’s enthusiasm to jump back into entrepreneurship. The Nottingham native studied business management at the University of Manchester and explains that he was influenced in his aspirations by his father.

“I tried to launch some teenage job intern site, but I didn’t really know what I was doing,” he says. “Dad’s always run a business, so I grew up in that environment. It was always something I wanted to try and do.”

While studying, Levin had more success, collaborating on several start-ups with university friend Rob Tominey. Together, the two spotted some gaps in the market and created a handful of businesses to meet students’ needs, including a fancy dress shop and a ticketing service for local club nights.

Business epiphany

Once the course had finished, Levin ended up in advertising, but a few months after joining he went on holiday and had an epiphany. “We were out in Ibiza and realised how expensive club tickets and activities were,” he says. The idea stuck in his mind, and once Levin returned from holiday he and Tominey endeavoured to hatch their master plan, working in their downtime to flesh out the idea and craft a stronger pitch. After a year at the advertising firm, Levin left to pursue the dream full time.  

“Before I started Mainstage Travel, I had no experience in the industry,” Levin explains. “I was just trying to wing it. I approached several hotels as a contractor, and once I’d been to one hotel I knew what the next was going to ask me. I became more confident.” 

The first product the duo went live with in 2012 was Ibiza-based holidays for students, publicising the business on a “very organic scale”, using media such as Facebook. In that first year, Mainstage took about 1,000 passengers away. This year, the company is set to breach the 40,000 mark, with packages offered to destinations including Magaluf and Ayia Napa. A special online dynamic packaging service also enables Mainstage’s clients to book myriad festival breaks abroad. 

Adding an older voice

Most will be familiar with the firm’s name thanks to Levin and Tominey’s TV appearance on BBC Two series Dragons’ Den. But rather than featuring in the programme to garner exposure and capital, Levin explains that the twosome had an altogether different primary motivation – a need for an older, more experienced voice within the business. 

“A lot of people that work for us are in their early to mid-20s, and we take on young apprentices too, so we’re definitely at an advantage [as we know] what a 21-year-old wants when they’re on holiday. But we were at a stage where we were growing massively, and it was a brilliant opportunity to bring somebody a bit older into the business.”

All of the judges, bar Kelly Hoppen, made offers to invest in Mainstage, and the pair won one of the show’s most valuable deals, walking away with a cool £100,000 investment from Piers Linney. Yet Mainstage’s onscreen success is not Levin’s proudest achievement to date. Instead, he cites the company’s Snowboxx festival. “We’ve created the whole concept out of nothing, so to see it grow into the second-biggest winter festival in all of Europe is awesome,” he says. “We saw a huge gap for launching a winter product [at a reasonable] price point.”

The company’s developing tech products, which include white labelling solutions, are another work in progress and source of pride. And though Levin comes from an entrepreneurial background, he says his heart is firmly anchored in the travel industry. 

“There always seems to be room to shake things up,” he says.