Australian Pilots Strike

It was the 1st of August 1989 BBX UK CEO John Attridge was a young 32 year old standing outside his car rental business on Australia’s Gold Coast basking in the glorious sunshine smug in the fact that the preceding year was so busy that as fast as the cars came in from rent they went out again!

This was truly what owning a small business was all about – freedom lifestyle independence – all smooth sailing!

Other than being the celebration of all horses birthdays in the southern hemisphere this was to be also 18 days from disaster – which struck in the form of  an Australia wide pilots dispute that crippled the entire tourist industry – 1989 Australian pilots’ dispute. The car rental business took a downward spiral as there were now more cars parked in the lot than being rented out.

Running a small business had turned into a nightmare !

Smartly dressed man named Chris Couper

It was during this time a smartly dressed young man named Chris Couper walked into the showroom and asked John “How much income do you get if you do not rent those cars today?” [pointing to the full lot]. Realising the obvious answer was zero John was ready to kick Chris to the curb for being a smart arse but thought better of it and was intrigued to hear where the salesman was going with this flippant question.

Chris explained the concept of spare capacity and if not captured now it would be wasted forever. The solution he offered John was a business community of like minded individuals who trade amongst each other as a prefer supplier community. And so begun John’s passion for helping businesses utilise their spare capacity.

Decades later after founding and selling his own platform in Australia, consulting on various economic topics around the world John used his experience, knowledge and passion to form an expert team and launch BBX in the UK. BBX UK is part of the global operation BBX International. By joining forces with the worlds largest platform, BBX clients in the UK have direct access to tens of thousands of new customers in thirteen different countries