£30m prize for boss who set up CD firm in garage
A FORMER record shop boss who started selling online from his garage is set to net more than £30million.
Initially Steve Oliver, 50, co-founded MusicMagpie in 2007 to buy and sell second-hand CDs.
It has now also become a leading reseller of mobile phones, various electronic gadgets and books.
Mr Oliver will be a big winner under a planned listing that could see the business valued at £208million.
After selling £12.2million in shares, he would have a 9.5 per cent stake worth £20million.
Along with co-founder Walter Gleeson, Mr Oliver set up MusicMagpie in the garage of his home in Stockport.
The pair worked together at high street chain Music Zone – where Mr Oliver was managing director – before its collapse.
MusicMagpie now boasts more than seven million customers and has an offshoot in the US called Decluttr.
It resold more than 400,000 products in the year to November last year, during which time revenues were £153million. It made almost £14million profit.
The firm plans to use the £15million raised through this Thursday’s AIM flotation to build its monthly subscription model and roll out in-store kiosks to value and pay for used items in minutes.
Asked what he would do with his new wealth, Mr Oliver said: “I’m a humble bloke from Stockport and it won’t change me at all.
“I will be looking to share that out with my nearest and dearest. It is potentially a life-changing amount of money and it will be something I will adjust to.
But it is really about the business and I am so pleased for the team.”
On the company’s future, he said: “Given the ongoing move to tackle the growing problem of e-waste and the fact that consumer attitudes towards buying refurbished consumer technology products are rapidly changing, we believe that there is significant potential for MusicMagpie’s future growth prospects.
“In the UK alone, we estimate that people are sitting on around £16.5billion worth of technology that they no longer use, and that only a small percentage of technology items are currently recycled.”