A BUSINESSMAN has come up with a "lifestyle travel concept" that could revolutionise road travel for company executives.

Tony Holliday has spent two years developing a purpose-designed vehicle that serves as a mobile office for up to eight passengers.

Mr Holliday has established a company, Autoliner MPV Company (UK) Limited, and is conducting road tests on his vehicle, developed exclusively in association with Volkswagen.

He has set the company up in Little Witley, near Worcester, because he believes being in the centre of the country is the best place to develop his plans of having 1,000 vehicles across the UK within five years.

"Strategically, in terms of developing the Autoliner as a concept, the middle of the country is the logical place to be," said Mr Holliday, aged 45, who has been living with his wife and two children in Cumbria for the past three years.

He is looking forward to moving his family back down to Worcestershire, after falling in love with the county when they lived in Pershore from 1990 to 2000.

"We started the trials in Cumbria, but the product is aimed at the corporate market and we wanted to be located more centrally.

"Cumbria is not the kind of place to do field trials because it's too rural. We need large, urban conurbations and companies to do business with. We are proposing to launch a UK franchise."

Planes and trains

The Autoliner maximises executives' time, allowing them to keep working while travelling to appointments, and will compete against planes and trains for the business traveller.

It has reclining leather seats, fold-down tables, a conference table and even hot and cold drink facilities and cooler boxes for food.

It is also fitted with power points for mobiles and lap-tops, an on-board computer with colour printer, e-mail and internet access, drop-down monitors for playing DVDs and videos and a high-quality sound system.

Glyn Griffiths, a Business Link adviser who acted as consultant on the project in its early stages, said the concept was "quite brilliant".

"I think the potential is enormous - there is a real need for vehicles of this type," he said.

"Autoliner spotted a gap in the market and reached a solution that is quite brilliant.

"Business executives can lose a lot of valuable time travelling, but this allows them to work throughout their journey in an environment which is just as good as the office they've left behind."