FACES OF 2024
FACES OF THE FUTURE
The Guitar Marketplace Team – with Ben far right
By Nicky Godding, Editor
Ben is hitting the right notes with his guitar marketplace
Entrepreneurs across the region are hoping this year their idea could be the one everyone talks about
When we talk about entrepreneurs, names tripping easily off the tongue include Sir Richard Branson, Sir James Dyson and Dale Vince. But Sir James is 76, Sir Richard is 73 and Dale, 62. We’re not being ageist – we’d be stupid not to acknowledge that just one day in the company of any of them could teach us more than a year on an entrepreneurship course – our point is since they came to our notice in the 1980s – the business landscape has changed almost beyond recognition. So who’s in the running for the-most-talkedabout-entrepreneur for the 2020s? We can think of a few. Stephen Fitzpatrick, 46, established Ovo Energy in 2009 buying and selling electricity to domestic homes. First based in Cirencester, he moved to Bristol as the business grew. Seventeen years later, as if establishing one of the UK’s most successful energy suppliers wasn’t enough, he set up Vertical Aerospace to revolutionise urban air mobility and electrify air travel. He now wants to build the most advanced electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – and has gained support from across the industry. Then there’s Ben Francis. This 31-year-old from the Midlands is co-founder of athleisure brand Gymshark, which he established in 2012 with Lewis Morgan while they were still at university. Ben is now CEO of the £350 million turnover Solihull brand.
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Stephen Bartlett, 31, who moved with his family from Botswana to Plymouth when he was two, founded a social media company which sold for millions. He then became a Dragon on the BBC programme’s Dragon’s Den, and more recently he has set up the successful podcast, Diary of a CEO. Spot something? They’re all men. There are entrepreneurial women of course – Victoria Beckham, 49, is now known as much for her successful fashion brand as for being a Spice Girl. Dame Sharon White, 56, is the boss at John Lewis and Karren Brady, 54, was the managing director of Birmingham City Football Club before becoming Sir Alan Sugar’s aide in the BBC’s The Apprentice. Female entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds experience the biggest barriers to success, but location is an important factor, irrespective of ethnicity and gender. Greater London is the toughest place to be an entrepreneur, while entrepreneurs in the South East and North East see most success, according to research. What do you need to succeed in business? Vision, creativity, decisiveness, resourcefulness, persistence – but most of all you need to have an idea and really believe in it – and in yourself. Our feature showcases entrepreneurs from across the region, who are making it happen.
Young entrepreneur Ben Griffin is hitting the right notes with his customers, after revealing last year that his e-commerce business, The Guitar Marketplace, was turning over more than £100,000 per month. The three-year-old online competition company specialises in offering guitar enthusiasts the opportunity to win their dream instruments – some of which can cost up to £14,000 – with a virtual raffle ticket costing just a few pounds. Since 2020 he says he has handed over £1.7 million worth of guitars – including Les Pauls, Fenders, and Gibsons – to more than 4,500 randomly-selected winners. Ben has grown a bedroom-based business into a successful venture with a team of four employees, all hailing from the local area, with an office/studio in Brierley Hill, near Dudley. “With four employees all in our early 20s, and an average age of just 24, we must be one of the youngest businesses running in the region, if not the youngest,” said Ben. Ben - who works seven days a week – keeps his business local rather than moving away to a larger city, and aims to buy largely from local music shops.
