When Croydon resident James Naylor decided to set up a company offering guided tours of his home town, few people would have thought he stood a chance of making it a genuine business success.

But, as we’ve discovered time and time again with our own clients, sometimes it’s the most unconventional of business ideas that go on to be the biggest commercial winners, purely on the back of their PR potential alone.

The South London satellite town hardly enjoys the best reputation for aesthetic beauty, but Naylor’s tour company, Croydon Tours, claims on its website that it is the most interesting place in Britain.

Amongst the concrete jungle of bland sixties architecture and dual carriageways, according to the company there is still plenty of interesting sights for visitors to enjoy for the price of an £8 guided-tour ticket.

The new business venture offers a range of tours, in which visitors can take in the view from the top of a multi-storey car park, visit the Whitgift Shopping Centre and nearby Whitgift almshouses, see many of the locations used in the filming of Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show and even visit the birthplace of size zero supermodel Kate Moss.

Contrary to more logical business thinking, we reckon this latest tourist attraction has a real chance of becoming a profitable commercial venture, especially given the coverage it has already received in several national newspapers.

And if the company then makes the most of this publicity by giving customers a tour that is humorous, fun, interesting and insightful then it can only enhance its reputation and turn the idea into something that continues to succeed long after the current media interest is over.