How Brett Akker revolutionised the car-hire business

Inspired by the success of car sharing schemes in Europe and North America, Brett Akker decided to give the idea a spin in Britain.

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Brett Akker: Inspired by car-sharing in Europe and North America

Even while he was studying economics and law at the University of Durham, Brett Akker (now 40) knew that he wanted to go into business with friend Andrew Valentine. After graduating in 1997, he and Valentine kept in touch, spending up to three evenings every week looking at potential ideas, but the inspiration finally struck in 2003 when Akker read an article in a business magazine about car-sharing schemes in Europe and North America.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri