£10m float for 'shops in the sky'

JOHN Caulcutt, a close friend of Sir Richard Branson, is planning a stock market flotation for a business that provides computerised 'shops in the sky' for air travellers.

Flightstore will be valued at about £10m when it floats on the junior Alternative Investment Market in December.

The technology, which is already used by six airlines, connects seat-back TV sets to the internet so that passengers can make credit card payments online.

Caulcutt hopes the advantages of being able to book theatre tickets, buy duty-free products or make hotel reservations while still in the air will persuade airlines to invest in his system.

Caulcutt, a non-executive director of Flightstore with 11% of the business, said: 'They may initially see the system as a way of saving on the expense of having a duty-free trolley in the aisle, but the number of uses is pretty well limitless.'