Ringing the changes at mobile phone website

Mar 11 2010 By Christopher Knox, The Journal

AN ambitious firm which runs a mobile phone comparison website expects to hit sales of £1m after setting up three years ago, and is now looking to open new offices and launch other services including a broadband site and a holiday site.

Newcastle-based James Zielinski, 26, and Reading-based Neil McHugh, 32, set up www.rightmobilephone.co.uk in 2007 as they believed most comparison sites offered so many products they did not have enough detailed information about mobile phones. The pair, who run the site under the TRG Online Ltd banner, are now looking to set up more offices in the North East as they add to their eight-strong workforce, and said that they expected the business to be one of the major players in the price comparison market in five years’ time.

The site helps save consumers time and money by comparing over 600,000 mobile phone contract deals from all major networks and retailers, as well as over 5,000 handset reviews from customers.

The company was launched after the two met during a networking event in Barbados in 2007, when Mr Zielinski was working for Newcastle-based travel agency Holiday Discount Centre. He later went on to work as a developer on the travel comparison site holidaywatchdog.com

Mr McHugh, who has a background in aerospace, founded internet marketing company Passingtrade Ltd before going into partnership with the new business.

Mr Zielinski said: "It’s fantastic to see such progression in such a short period. The company has come so far in the last couple of years, from a simple idea to something that provides real value for visitors.

"I think we have a solid evolving platform which is wrapped in a versatile, friendly brand, providing consumers a valuable service.

"I’ve always had a thing for mobile phones and thought that confusion among consumers over which phone to buy was a good market to tap into. I’m now hoping to get back into the holiday market as the business evolves."

The pair are now looking to roll out a series of comparison services within the technology sector, including a broadband site, as well as a user-based travel comparison site. Mr McHugh, said: "The mobile sector is very competitive, it has been a challenging two years to establish ourselves but we now feel we have a strong foundation and a growing brand to build upon.

"The company has exceeded expectations in the past year, we are pleased with the positive growth figures, particularly in the current economic climate.

"The feedback we have had from consumers has been positive as has been the support of our commercial partners, we will continue to grow the business and are very much looking forward to the year ahead with a host of improvement and expansion plans."