David Martell: My eureka moment in an M25 traffic jam

Inspiration for a new business can come from the most unlikely of places. And for David Martell - founder of traffic reporting service Trafficmaster - Britain's congested roads provided the spark.

Serial entrepreneur David Martell spent his honeymoon drawing up a business plan. "My wife didn't mind, she was sitting on the beach with me, helping me work it all out." The former accountant had just sold an air charter service that delivered English-speaking newspapers to Europe and was eager for a new challenge.

His inspiration was a traffic jam the couple had suffered en route on the M25. "It had just been built and already there was congestion. I am a very impatient person and hated being stuck in the jams." His brainwave was to place sensors along roads that could tell if a road was congested and alert drivers.

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.