You could say James and Tom Mannings owe their dad Mike a vote of thanks. It was because of him that their germ of an idea began to grow.

“Our dad owned a villa in Orlando, Florida, which he used to rent out,” said James.

“Sometimes it was fully booked, so he would ask friends who also owned villas whether they could help out.”

With demand for luxury villa rental obviously exceeding supply, James began to dabble with villa rentals as a sideline while in a full-time job.

Then, with an investment of less than £1,000, the brothers started their own company – and so Top Villas was born in 2010.

“Our business is global, but most of our customers are in the States...” - James Mannings, Top Villas

At the start, James and Tom had just 15 villas on their books. Today, they rent out a worldwide portfolio of some 5,000 properties on behalf of homeowners, worth a total of $5 billion (£3.2bn).

The company moved from the family home in Sandwich to nearby Discovery Park, the former Pfizer site turned business park, in 2013. It now has 30 staff, but overseas demand for its villa rentals is now so high that it is set to create another 20 jobs.

The brothers were never over-awed by the prospect of competing with established rivals because, they say, Top Villas offers a different service.

James, who has a background in internet marketing, said: “There are a lot of customers in the world and if you put yourself out there you can compete with anyone.

“Our business is global, but most of our customers are in the States.”

The company allows customers to search and book luxury villas at 100 destinations around the world, from Anguilla in the Caribbean to Disney, Orlando and Miami in the United States.

Its success meant that in August, James, 31, and Tom, 29, made their second move at Discovery Park, taking a newly-refurbished office in The Gateway building, complete with a creative area for staff breaks and an American-style diner.

James said: “Having grown up in Sandwich, it’s great to be able to give something back to our community by hiring locally, including supporting young people into getting their first taste of work through apprenticeships.”

James and Tom have a lot in the pipeline.

Tom, a former carpenter who also ran several internet sites, is shortly moving to Florida to expand the company’s Orlando office and grow Top Villas Realty, the brothers’ real estate business. Closer to home, the pair are adding more French properties to their European portfolio.

If the brothers’ business continues to expand at its current rate, realisation of their long-term plan – packages that include luxury villas, flights and car hire – may not be far away.