By Widget Finn (Telegraph.co.uk)

The increasing hassle of travelling by commercial transport and recent terrorist threats mean that Alexis Grabar and Justine Angelli's business has grown rapidly. Sixteen months ago they set up Avolus (from the Latin volare, to fly) as a luxury integrated transport provider. If you want to get from A to B quickly and comfortably then Avolus will put chauffered limousines, private jets, helicopters or yachts at your disposal.

Grabar had 12 years' experience in the aviation industry, most recently as a sales director for Airbus Industrie. Then he took a sabbatical to do an MBA in Paris and Boston, and decided to become an entrepreneur.

He met Angelli, who has a background in IT and marketing, at the Monaco Ball where she was on the organising committee. Together they spotted a gap in the market.

Grabar explains: "People were seeking luxury travel for speed as much as convenience. Initially we planned a network of limousines covering Europe for older passengers who were travelling by jet and needed a car at each end. We put £50,000 of our own money into the idea, and spent a year and a half learning about the limousine industry and talking to 15 companies in France, Germany, Italy and Spain." HSBC gave them an overdraft of £25,000 which enabled them to start marketing, designing the brochure and setting up a website.

Unexpectedly the first calls they received from customers were for private jets. "So we changed the concept very rapidly and decided to have an integrated service of limousines, helicopters, jets and yachts," Grabar says.

"We set up a network of providers, selecting the best in each country, and keeping close to them. We have more than 100 clients who want transport rapidly, and we need to find the best in terms of price, quality and service."

Top quality software is key to the business. "We know where an aircraft is at any given time," Grabar says. "For instance, we might need to confirm that there is a jet in Moscow which could fly a client to Nice within a couple of hours."

The client list is evenly balanced between private and corporate contracts, and the requirements are varied. Three golfing friends played on three Royal golf courses in a day, transported by Sikorsky helicopter to Scotland's Royal Dornoch, Royal St George's near Canterbury and the Royal Norwich.