Sports company boss tops young entrepreneur list
ASPORTS fan who started selling cricket bats as a teenage hobby has been named the UK’s wealthiest young entrepreneur.
Alex Loven only began his Wrexham-based business Net World Sports in 2009 and now sells more than 100,000 football goals a year, with sales of nearly £20m in 2016-17.
It has helped make the 30-yearold worth £55m, up £28m from the year before.
Up next on the list is Jack Cator, the chief executive and founder of Privax, the company behind online privacy service HideMyAss. com which was acquired by AVG Technologies in 2015.
Mr Cator has held steady with wealth of £45m.
Joshua Stevens, worth £30m, came in third and is a new entry on the Sunday Times Rich List for young entrepreneurs.
Mr Stevens owns and runs One Retail Group, which is made up of six consumer brands including outdoor equipment label Active Era and Pro Breeze household appliances.
The 29-year-old owns the entirety of his Hampstead-based business, which booked profits of £3.3m on sales of nearly £14m last year.
A sibling team ranked fourth on the young entrepreneurs list, worth £25m.
Amy Mason, 29, and Tom Makin, 28, are children of JD Sports co-founder David Makin and each own a stake of nearly 7.5% in the Footasylum chain of shoe and sportswear shops.
Footasylum has a market value of £165m and more than 65 stores.
The youngest person to make the cut is 19-year-old Akshay Ruparelia, who set up the Harrowbased estate agent Doorsteps, selling properties for as little as £99.
He used a £7,000 loan from his family and now employs more than 25 people, with about 2,000 properties on the books.
Mr Ruparelia is worth £16m, tying in seventh place.
Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, said: “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough. Several of these entrepreneurs cut their teeth while still in their teens and were born after the first Rich List was published in 1989. Their stories underline how GCSEs, A-levels, and degrees are not the only route to success.
“Technology has made it easier than ever before for young men and women to start up their own company.”