‘I pretended to have a Mayfair office and built a £82m business’

Did you have a good financial start in life?

I had an ordinary middle-class upbringing. Dad was an accountant, Mum an occupational therapist. I grew up in a three-bed semi in Chelmsford in Essex. I did get a job quite young, however, which was probably the making of me. From the age of 14, I worked on a cheese and eggs stall at Chelmsford Market. My boss, who was only seven years older, made me realise that you didn’t need a business plan and an education to earn good money. 

Didn’t you perform well at school then?

I was top of the class at primary school but when I reached grammar school I couldn’t see the point of Latin and ancient Greek, so I switched off. I was thrown out, aged 16, with virtually no qualifications.

What did you do next?

I did a Btec national diploma in business finance while continuing to work at the market. After flailing around in a band, my dad, knowing I was good with numbers, suggested I write to a couple of local accountancy firms. I got an interview and was offered a full-time job for £50 a week. I remember laughing because I thought it was a joke. I’d earned more at Chelmsford Market. 

After 18 months they showed me the door because I demanded a pay rise. I tried various sales jobs, but was pulled over for drink-driving, 10 yards after getting into the car, and lost my driving licence. I was forced to sign on for 15 months and quickly racked up debts because I had a mortgage.

How bad did things get?

I got so desperate that I walked into a newsagent’s and asked if I could take on several paper rounds. The guy behind the counter said, “Is it for your son?” I said, “No, it’s for me,” and he just looked sad and shook his head. 

Falling back on the only thing I knew, I placed an advert in a local newspaper offering to do end-of-year accounts from £99 a month. I got a call from a florist and it grew from there. Spending £10 on that advert in 1992 was the best financial decision I ever made.

How did you take the business to the next level? 

My big breakthrough came in 1996 when I moved to Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire with my then-girlfriend. I tried to place the same advert in the local press there but it didn’t work, so I decided to target one-man limited companies. I advertised in a computing magazine and got three clients within the first week. I quickly realised I’d hit on something.

Didn’t you create a virtual office to appear bigger than you were?

I needed more credibility, so I rented out a telephone number from a real estate company for £100 a month to make it appear as though I had a Mayfair address. The calls came through to my home phone. I also undercut my competitors by charging £35 a month rather than the standard £69. By the time I sold the business, I had 14,000 clients, around 180 staff and was making £1m profit a month.

Why did you become known as the ‘Twitter Dragon’

In 2010 I invited start-up companies to send me business pitches via Twitter. I don’t think I invested in any of them, but I was up for a ‘millionaire investor’ slot on the BBC show Dragons’ Den until they decided Hilary Devey was a better candidate. I was a white male and think that may not have fit their remit. That show has got no more to do with business than Big Brother has to do with normal relationships. It’s not how business works. 

Why did you sell JD Accountancy?

I got an offer I didn’t want to refuse. Also, because of the niche I was in, there was the worry that government regulation would scupper the market – which it did three years later.

Is it true you’re worth £200m?

That’s not far off. I didn’t own any of those businesses that made ridiculous amounts during the pandemic. Neither was I involved in any that lost much, other than my airline company, Jota Aviation, which was made bankrupt by the Government’s handling of Covid. My planes were grounded and I lost £10m.