Gareth Williams
Founder & CEO, Skyscanner
Gareth Williams is the CEO and co-founder of Skyscanner, a leading global travel search site which specialises in providing instant online comparison for flights, hotel and car hire.
A keen skier, it was Gareth's frustration with finding cheap flights to visit his brother in the Alps that led him and two friends, Bonamy Grimes and Barry Smith, to create Skyscanner. It all started with a pub brainstorming session and a simple idea: to create a site that compares flight prices for every single commercial airline in the world.
Skyscanner initially grew by word of mouth; now, an average of 50m people visit the site every month. As CEO, Gareth's 14 years of experience as a developer for financial institutions and retail companies have helped him make Skyscanner one of the top digital travel companies in the world.
Skyscanner’s multi-award winning mobile apps have been downloaded over 40 million times, and now allows travellers to not only compare flights but car hire and hotels too. The company employs over 800 staff in ten global offices, and year-upon-year reports impressive accelerated growth.
In his spare time, Gareth enjoys playing chess and has a love for literature and the arts, specially sculpting and drawing. He is renowned among colleagues for his incessant drawing during meetings.