The Most BONKERS SuperCar Collector & His Wild Companies! Supercar Nigel
Road To Success with Benedict Fowler
The Most BONKERS SuperCar Collector & His Wild Companies! Supercar Nigel
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Concept
blacklisted at Porsche
Being “blacklisted at Porsche” implies the buyer was restricted by Porsche or its dealer network—typically because of behavior like repeatedly buying and quickly reselling limited-allocation cars. In practice, this is often about controlling allocations for customers who are perceived as genuine enthusiasts.
Car
Ferrari F8 Spyder
The Ferrari F8 Spyder is a Ferrari supercar with the engine in the middle. It’s a convertible, so you get the performance of a Ferrari but with open-air driving.
Car
Ferrari F8
The F8 Tributo is a high-performance sports car made by Ferrari. It’s built for fast driving and has a mid-engine layout. In the podcast, it’s mentioned alongside other expensive cars, showing it’s a top-tier purchase.
Car
Opel Astra
“Astra GT” sounds like a performance version of an Astra, but the transcript doesn’t give enough detail to confirm exactly which car it is. It may also be a nickname for a modified car.
Car
Ferrari 458 Spyder
The Ferrari 458 Spyder is a Ferrari supercar with the engine in the middle and a V8. It’s also a convertible, and fans like it for how it drives—especially because it’s naturally aspirated.
Car
Vauxhall Cavalier
A Vauxhall Cavalier is a regular British car. Here it’s mentioned as the first car the speaker bought with money their dad lent them.
Term
boot
A “boot” is the trunk/storage space at the back of the car. They’re saying they had too many people/stuff back there and got stopped.
Car
Vauxhall Astra GT
The Vauxhall Astra GT is a sportier version of the Astra. The host is about to tell a story about it, so it’s a key car in the segment.
Car
Ford Capri 2.8
The Ford Capri 2.8 is an older Ford coupe with a bigger engine (2.8 liters). The speaker mentions it as a car they were tempted to buy at 17.
Concept
number plate
A number plate is the license plate on a car—the unique ID that links the car to its registration paperwork.
Concept
got scrapped
“Scrapped” means the car was basically retired for good and broken up, usually for recycling or parts.
Term
top speed
Top speed is the highest speed a car can reach. The host is saying his car could get fast enough that he ended up breaking the speed limit and losing his driving privileges.
Term
banned for going over 100
He’s saying he got punished for speeding—so he couldn’t legally drive anymore. That’s why he ended up having to sell the car.
Car
Buick Grand National
The Grand National is a muscle car made by Buick. It’s known for being powerful and exciting to drive. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as part of the speaker’s talk about money and betting.
Car
BMW M5
The BMW M5 is a fast, performance-focused version of the BMW 5 Series. Here, the story is that the M5’s engine failed, and the repair cost forced the owner to change how they handled money.
Term
engine blew up
“Engine blew up” means the engine failed in a serious way. It usually isn’t a small fix, and you often need a major repair or a replacement engine.
Car
Mercedes S-Class
The Mercedes S-Class is a top-of-the-line luxury Mercedes sedan. Here, the speaker is talking about selling one and negotiating the deal, including a separate number plate issue.
Brand
Lamborghini
Lamborghini is a famous Italian supercar brand. The speaker is name-dropping it as part of his car collection.
Brand
Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce makes very luxurious cars. The speaker mentions it as part of his collection and says he doesn’t owe money on any of his cars.
Term
car finance
Car finance means you buy a car using payments over time instead of paying all at once. The speaker is saying he used to do that, but now he owns cars without owing money.
Car
Ferrari 355
The F355 is a sports car made by Ferrari. It’s a mid-engine car, meaning the engine sits closer to the middle of the vehicle for performance. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as a Ferrari that many people fantasize about owning.
Car
Audi R8
The Audi R8 is a supercar made by Audi. It’s designed to be very fast and sporty, with the engine placed near the middle of the car. The podcast is using it as an example of a car people buy when they’re doing well.
Concept
social signal of car ownership
The speaker is basically talking about how buying a supercar can change how people see you. They’re comparing a time when Ferraris were rare to a later time when lots of people around them had similar cars.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Mustang is a sports car made by Ford. It’s known for being fun and recognizable, and many people associate it with performance. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as a car someone had that suggests they were doing well.
Concept
allocation system
An allocation system is a way car brands decide who gets a limited car. It usually means you can’t just walk in and buy one—your past relationship with the brand or dealer can matter.
Company
Porsche United Kingdom
This means Porsche’s business in the UK. The guest is described as one of the biggest customers connected to Porsche through that UK setup and its dealers.
Company
Porsche dealership
A Porsche dealership is the local retailer that sells Porsche cars and interfaces with Porsche’s allocation process. In practice, dealers often play a major role in how customers are prioritized for scarce models.
Term
GT cars
“GT cars” means Porsche’s more track-focused, performance versions. The guest is saying Porsche tends to give the best access to these cars to customers who already buy other Porsches.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is Porsche’s famous sports car. It’s known for having its engine in the back and for being a classic that many supercar collectors start with.
Term
points
The “points” are like a rewards program from the dealership. You earn them when you buy a car and when you finance it, and they can help you get discounts or perks later.
Car
Ferrari
Ferrari is an Italian brand that makes very desirable supercars. The speaker is basically saying they want a Ferrari, but they may have to play the dealer game first.
Concept
split it with Porsche
This sounds like they’re talking about dividing the money—who gets what profit—around getting and selling the car. With rare cars, the “price” can involve more than just the sticker cost.
Car
Porsche 911 GT2 RS
The Porsche 911 GT2 RS is a very hardcore version of the 911. It’s made for fast driving and track use, and it’s known as one of Porsche’s most extreme supercars.
Car
Toyota Corolla
The Corolla is a small, everyday car made by Toyota. It’s commonly chosen because it’s dependable and easy to live with. The podcast is emphasizing how surprising it was to have one at that time.
Term
track day
A track day is when people bring their cars to a race track and drive them there in a controlled setting. It’s a way to push the car and practice driving without normal road traffic.
Car
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
The 911 GT3 RS is a Porsche built for track driving, with special aero and a very performance-oriented setup. In the story, it’s one of the faster cars people talk about on track days.
Car
Porsche 911 Turbo S
“Turbo S” is a top, performance version of the Porsche 911. The speaker is basically saying that on track days, they’re able to keep up with—and even pass—other cars they see there.
Car
AMC Javelin
The AMC Javelin is an older American muscle car. Muscle cars are built for strong acceleration and a sporty feel. The podcast mentions it in the context of getting together around these cars.
Car
Cayenne turbo GT
This is a Porsche Cayenne, but in a very high-performance “Turbo GT” version. The point here is that even in an SUV, the driver is going fast enough to challenge the speaker on track.
Car
Honda Civic Type R
The Civic Type R is Honda’s high-performance version of the Civic hatchback. The speaker is using it as an example of a car that can be fast on track—but also punishes you if you overdo it.
Place
Croft
Croft is a race track in the UK. The speaker mentions it because he made a mistake there while trying to drive aggressively.
Term
hot stones
“Hot stones” means loose bits on the track—like gravel or debris. Hitting them can make your tires lose grip and can throw the car off line.
Term
spinning round
“Spinning round” means the car lost grip and started rotating. It’s the kind of moment where the car won’t go where you’re steering it.
Term
trike
A “trike” is a three-wheeled vehicle configuration, often used in enthusiast conversions. In this context, putting a car (the host’s RS) onto a trike changes geometry and dynamics—so the car’s accuracy, speed, and power delivery feel dramatically different.
Term
700 brake horsepower
Brake horsepower is a way of measuring how much power the engine makes. When someone says “700 brake horsepower,” they mean the engine is extremely strong.
Term
rear wheel drive
Rear-wheel drive means the power goes to the back wheels. That usually changes how the car accelerates and handles compared to cars that drive the front wheels or all four.
Car
Rolls-Royce Cullinan
The Cullinan is Rolls-Royce’s big luxury SUV. The host is basically saying it feels so smooth and relaxed that it’s not the kind of car that makes you want to drive aggressively.
Term
wheelie
A wheelie is when the front wheels come up during hard acceleration. It’s a sign the car has a lot of pull and can be difficult to control if you push it too hard.
Car
Lamborghini Eurus
The Lamborghini Eurus is a very expensive Lamborghini crossover. The host talks about how it rides differently depending on suspension type, and how it tends to keep its value better than many other cars.
Car
Lamborghini Performante
The host is talking about a more track-oriented version of the Lamborghini Eurus called the Performante. He says it’s the one you’d pick if you want the car to handle harder driving, not just look good.
Term
air suspension
Air suspension uses air instead of metal springs to control how the car rides and how high it sits. The host is saying that under hard track use, the air setup didn’t hold up as well as he expected.
Term
steel suspension
Steel suspension means the car uses traditional metal springs. The host says it rides firmer on the road, but he believes it can be better for harder driving.
Car
911 Gt3 Porsche
The 911 is Porsche’s famous sports car model. Different versions are built for different kinds of driving, including track-focused and more powerful road-focused options. The podcast is talking about which type looks or feels better to buy.
Term
depreciates so little
Depreciation is how much the car loses value over time. The host is saying the Eurus doesn’t drop in value much compared with other expensive cars.
Term
interest
Interest is the extra money you pay for borrowing. The host is using a simple example to show how much the loan costs per week.
Car
Volkswagen Golf
The Golf is a compact car from Volkswagen, usually a hatchback. It’s made for everyday driving and is known for being practical. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as a car the speaker remembers from earlier.
Car
Volkswagen Crafter
They’re talking about Volkswagen Crafters, which are work vans. They mention having new ones that aren’t really being driven, just stored.
Term
four wheel drive
Four-wheel drive means the van can send power to all four wheels. That helps it grip better on wet, snowy, or rough roads.
Car
911 Turbo
They’re talking about a Porsche 911 Turbo. It’s the high-performance version of the 911 that uses a turbocharger to make it quicker and punchier.
Car
Porsche 918 Spyder
The 918 Spyder is a very rare, very fast supercar made by Porsche. It uses a mix of electric power and a gasoline engine. The podcast is basically saying it’s a “dream” car that people want for the prestige and performance.
Term
640bhp
“bhp” stands for brake horsepower, which is a way of measuring how much power a car has. Higher bhp usually means the car can accelerate harder.
Place
Donington
Donington is a famous race track in the UK. If someone says a car can get you there “right there,” they’re talking about using it for proper driving, not just commuting.
LIVE
I've told this story to people 50 times.
It's a victim in now even.
Sorry, I'm getting a boost again.
So what's the best day of life?
The best day of my life was going to see James at that clinic in the elder t-shirt.
My body, my face, my head, toes, my head, my...
Nigel, you are, without doubt, one of the most bonkers, crazy, enthusiastic,
but lovable characters I've ever come across.
We currently run Fireworks Business,
Collective Fireworks,
Oh, very nice.
We also do bonkers competitions.
I bought a GT3 RS,
sold it.
Now, blacklisted at Porsche,
bought it for £205,000,
sold it for £410,
and with £175,000 of mortgage paid off.
What triggered the one-two gamble?
I lost everything I earned.
If I earned £200 that way, I lost £200.
If I were ever I earned, I lost gambling.
I did anything and everything I possibly could to get this money.
Probably shouldn't be admitting this on camera,
but I'm going to do.
So...
Nigel, you are, without doubt,
one of the most bonkers, crazy, enthusiastic,
but lovable characters I've ever come across in my life.
And I'm so excited that you're sat opposite me,
once again, in the back of my van studio.
But Nigel, in your own words, who are you and what did you do?
Well, first of all, Ben, I'd like to say,
I can't be finished the interview there,
because he's just leaving me looking lovely.
And I don't think I've ever had a man so excited to meet me.
But anyway, who am I?
Well, my name is Nigel Turver.
We currently run a firework business,
Coliteak Fireworks.
We also do bonkers competitions,
what my son Harry predominantly does.
I originally was a,
I still see myself a little bit as this is a shopkeeper.
That's what I was, that's what I did.
And when I say shopkeeper, general grocery store,
selling newspapers, alcohol, everything,
everything you can imagine I sold in our shop.
And when I say everything I imagine,
even that I say vibrators in a grocery shop, local shop,
I sold everything in anything.
And then, loved it to be quite honestly,
it worked ridiculously hard on denying that.
Whereas now, some people now say me,
they're saying, oh, you deserve these things,
you work on nothing.
No, I do not work hard at all now.
In fact, my thumbs are so flexible
because I twiddle them so much.
So the things that we see behind us,
we have a Hurricane STO, one of your latest purchases,
a Ferrari F8 Spyder, there's a yellow GT2 RS round the corner.
That's my baby.
There's an Astra GT-
GT-
in the corner.
Over there, there's a Ferrari 458 Spyder.
There's your son Harry's KN Turbo GT.
Oh yeah, bye-bye.
There's the flippin' Rolls Royce Cullinan.
Rolls Royce Cullinan Series 2 Black Batch.
I can barely remember all of them.
But to get to that point,
I wanted to build the viewers a picture
of what your incredible car collection looks like now.
The fact that you've built a home
that not only you can wander to work 20 steps in the morning,
but come home.
You've built the dream life, it seems, what we do want.
So take us back, though,
to where the start of that success started,
the embryo of it.
What was like your first store?
Well, I completely agree with what you say.
When I come home and I look in my garage, showroom.
I don't even call it a garage, I call it a showroom.
And I'm like, in awe.
And I'm in awe.
I just think, oh my God, how have I got any of these cars?
So, and I'm in awe.
This all stems, I suppose, from as a child,
and then as my biggest,
I had no interest in school, if that's the word.
My, yeah, no exams, no interest.
I was pretty useless, if you want me to be honest with you.
When I say useless, in the end of the school,
I always bought stuff, sold stuff, stamps.
Always like making money.
That's the truth of it.
I can't deny that,
because money seemed to allow me at that age
to probably buy Easter eggs, chocolates, and fireworks.
I always had a love for fireworks.
Now, if you want to go back to my first worry,
I never worried about exams at school
because it didn't mean anything to me.
My big worry was passing the driving test.
I mean, it was like, plus I just thought
it would be so simple.
If I applied to my driving test when I was 16,
because it took about then five or six weeks.
So four weeks before my 17th birthday,
I applied to my driving test thinking, right,
that gives me two weeks to have a couple of lessons
because I could already physically drive.
Two weeks of lessons, I went, pass me a test.
So confident, and my nerves broke down on the test.
I couldn't believe I failed, but I failed,
and I failed on the fourth of June,
and you had to wait one month to retake the test.
And I booked the test for the fourth of July.
So Independence Day, American Independence Day,
it wasn't gonna bring you fireworks, it was the day
I passed my driving test, second time.
Once again, I was a bag of nerves, I was so pleased.
Anyway, then what's your dream car?
Well, they only had 300 pounds, so that was the thing.
My dad, there was a Vauxhall Cavalier,
what my dad lent me the money for,
it was 900 pounds, which I bought a Vauxhall Cavalier,
and then there was, of course, insurance,
probably my mum's insurance.
I was being a bit of a crackpot driver,
I would probably, especially when I was younger,
ended up crashing right off and getting stopped by police
because there was 12 people in the boot and everything else.
But my love of cars and passion of cars,
it was just everything, it could be nice for you.
And before I tell you about my Astra GT story,
I know it's still this to people, when I was 17,
there was a couple of local ads
I had Ford Capri 2.8 in Jation.
Now, I would have at 17, with a shadow of a doubt,
signed a piece of paper saying 10% of what you earn
for the rest of your life till the day you die,
has got to be given to something.
But you can have a Ford Capri 2.8 out of sign,
that piece of paper, and I would definitely be regretted now,
but at the time I would have definitely done that
for a Ford Capri.
Anyway, my other dream was obviously to, was an Astra GT.
This one I've got now is a white one,
but mine was a red one.
If Mandy was here, a wife,
she'd be able to tell you the number plate.
A 607 UOP, it got scrapped in 1998, by the way.
And that was our, the car I met Mandy in,
the car that when she did see it,
she said, that's not your car, your dad's car.
It wasn't.
Also, the car, I'll tell you this,
probably shouldn't be admitting this on camera,
but I'm gonna do.
So I earned 50 pound a week back then,
and an Astra GT was 4,000 pound.
I saved up, I mean I did not go out,
I did not spend one penny.
I was obsessed with saving up an Astra GT,
but one, which was 4,000 pound.
And I saved 4,000 pound in four months.
Now, why not, didn't you say you have 50 pound a week?
Well, that's 800 pound roughly.
Yeah, I would be honest with you.
I did anything and everything I possibly could
to get this money,
which obviously consisted of doing probably,
oh, why would you put it?
Legal things, let's put it that way.
I'll put it that way.
Right, but I was obsessed to get this car.
And I did, I'd got the money,
and I bought the Astra GT, it was my,
oh, and I think I was the dog's in that.
And I really did.
But as the story goes, as I probably already said,
drove too fast like a crankpot.
When I said too fast, remember these cars by then?
You know, I don't know what break-offs,
probably top speed was 105, man.
I've saved 105 because I got banned for going over 100.
I ended up getting banned in that car,
which means also I had to sell the car,
which also when I was younger, I was now 18,
I liked gambling.
My whole world was that car,
everything petty I own was that car.
Car worth about 3,000, 3,500 pound.
Sold the car, lost the lot in one night gambling.
The whole lot went.
And I don't know how I did it,
and I don't know how I did it,
because if anybody's a gambler,
well, how did you do this?
Managed to save a hundred pound for Christmas presents.
Until this day, I still don't know how I managed to save a hundred
because a gambler doesn't know we do that.
So you were a reformed gambler these days,
or do you still like a...
No, I used to love gambling.
I gambled for 10, 12 years,
and I've had this question before,
were you addicted gambling, Nigel?
And I would say yes,
but a lot of people said no, why?
I don't know if there's an upbringing that my dad taught me that
if you can't afford it, you don't have it.
And I still say it's a pretty good lesson.
So gambling, a lot of people will go into debt
and mess the whole lives of them through gambling.
It's a bad product.
I lost everything I earned.
If I earned 200 quid that way, I lost 200 quid.
If I had a lot of 300 pound, I lost it.
And wherever I earned, I lost gambling.
But I never, ever went into debt.
Never, never.
If I had never went into debt, I never borrowed money for gambling.
But I don't know why that was, I just never did.
What triggered the want to gamble?
Of course.
Yes.
Did you have a big win or something?
No.
No.
If I had some bad fortune, I would have any whips.
Because it's funny.
It was a...
Do you know, Ben, I go to a casino
and I could, let's just say I've got 300 pound on me.
This is a...
It's the sad part about gambling.
I've got 300 pound on me.
I've lost all 300 pound on roulette.
Then you're looking in your pocket for a pound coin.
Oh, I haven't got a pound coin,
but I've got one pound, 10 pence in a loose change.
I've gone to the cashier to check...
Because they won't take the change to change that for a one pound coin
to come and put the one pound on the numbers.
You know, complete addiction.
It was an addiction.
Manly will tell you, I've won money before.
So before we lived together and we've given money,
I said, don't let me have that money, 700 quid,
and four o'clock at more, I'm not giving up door.
Andy, I want that money, money.
No, you're telling me not to give it,
give me that money, it's addiction.
Erm...
And...
Yeah.
Was that the hardest thing to get over in your kind of earliest 20s?
Well, I was down to do sound, I also found poker.
And poker saved me because I'm going to have a game of poker
for 20 quid, last 45 hours, and get the same buzz.
But obviously, I had to get past the devil's roundabout,
as you call it, the roulette wheels call the devil's roundabout.
Unbelievable, if you had all the numbers up on a roulette wheel,
it had to up to 666.
And I've actually got a full-sized roulette wheel in my office.
So...
And it shouldn't have came to my house now once it was gambled.
I would have been able to have a gamble with them.
But, oh, that's just, I've read them like 50 quid.
So, I don't want any more, I don't need to gamble.
I think also gambling, you've got this dream of winning,
of having money, of, you know,
but I used to, it's a better dream of getting a number with a maximum.
And I'd say, do you know what one of the saddest things about this is?
I could have been in a casino on a Saturday night,
and I'd have been putting half a dozen ponies,
which is a £25 chip on numbers.
So, there's £150 that I've lost it.
The next morning, I had to get up and deliver newspapers.
Sunday morning, we did newspaper deliveries.
We had lads do paper deliveries on week...
What age was this?
I would say I was 25.
I said 25.
Erm...
And I had to get up Sunday morning to deliver the papers,
because there were big Sunday papers,
in my little total IT span I had.
Big pile of papers, go out and deliver them.
And I didn't earn £25 from that job that morning,
what took an hour and a half.
And yet the night before,
it just...
And you could say, what really stopped you?
I'd say I was probably near on...
I'd say I was 28, 10 years,
because I think I gambled uncontrollably,
in a way, for 10 years.
But when I was 28, we needed a new kitchen.
I mean, we lived in the shop, we had a shop.
Again, it's amazing how a gambler managed to store all the business,
because we had to buy stock.
You know, I didn't lose it all.
But as I sat there, I only ever lost.
I lost anything I made,
but never lost anything that I couldn't afford,
you know, what needed.
Anyway, we needed a kitchen.
And...
Anyway, we did need a kitchen.
Right, oh, we were a mess.
And a kitchen back then for a new kitchen was £3,000.
And my mum and dad said, we'll buy you a kitchen.
And I just thought, that's not what should be out in it.
And I'm unbelievable from that.
Erm...
I stopped gambling.
I stopped gambling, and now I'll have a bit on Grand National,
but I could take it a little bit.
If I go to a casino now, and I will go to a casino,
the problem is a casino cannot give me anything that I need anymore.
I can't.
What can I win at a casino?
I was going to make a difference in my life.
I did nothing to make a difference.
If I do go to a casino, I will take £1,000, £2,000 a month, lose it.
End of it.
Don't make any difference in my life.
What am I expected to win?
What's going to make a difference?
Let's say I won, which is very likely.
Let's say I won.
Well, what am I trying to win?
The minimum I can win to walk away,
where I think what I'm happy is, it'd be £5,000.
Erm...
And what does it do to my life?
Absolutely nothing.
So, can't get anything from it.
Erm...
Being in business as well, it's amazing how you lost so much money
when it was so hard to earn.
Like I've just said about the papers.
Erm...
And running a business, the case of Stones is bitter.
It'll be £10.29 at Battles, Cash and Carry.
It'll be £9.99 at Nerd in Peacocks.
And I would make...
Right, I've got to get it from Nerd in Peacocks.
Saving 30 pence of case, I want 20 cases, six quid.
Erm...
You know, running a business still had to be watching every penny
and looking after it.
And luckily I managed to do that.
Erm...
But the biggest, strangest one I would say...
Don't let you get any questions in Bendua.
But the biggest, strangest one I would say was,
my mum and dad's teaching of you can't...
You can't afford it, you don't have it.
But I remember having some old carpets,
what dogs had peed on and everything.
And my mum and dad, my dad's the out-of-drive-away
cooking these old carpets up his head.
He said, these are great for my kitchen.
And it hit me like a ton of bricks that...
I realised then that...
This thing about if you can't afford it, you don't have it.
But you can afford it, but you still don't have it.
And that was the thing, like, I thought...
That's where life's a problem, that...
If you can afford it, have it.
So, obviously we've done well with business.
Erm...
Because, well, it's not like me seeing it and saying,
how bothered I was about working.
I had a wife who had exactly the same work ethics
as me, we worked, we worked hard long hours.
We worked, you know, you see people now and say,
oh, we work hard.
You don't work hard.
And I know I say that, you don't work hard.
The only way I accept you work hard is you do not have a holiday.
You do not have a day off.
And that was us.
That was us, we didn't...
We didn't have a holiday, you know,
people say, oh, it's a holiday for me.
And you don't go on holidays, you don't have days off.
We open Christmas Day.
I loved it, we used to sell like 600
Christmas Day, I loved it.
Erm...
So, you know, my eldest son James,
I always tell him this story, I think, right,
he was five years old,
and we took him to Eurodism for five days.
That was the first time we had...
You know, we went to an holiday with him,
and it was like a really big thing,
going to Eurodism for five days.
Erm...
And that's why I'd say, when people said they work hard,
I think, well, you work hard if you don't have an holiday.
And you don't have a day off.
And we did that.
So, what age was that at?
What age were you at?
He was five.
We were at the age of somewhere that we were out to being...
But what were you naff to be here in?
2000 twenty-six, so I'm...
And I'm sixty now, I know people are thinking,
oh, you're silly.
Of course, I'm sixty years old.
Erm...
This happened right, again, this is another story,
people are being trusted.
How old were you when James was five?
Cool, that's a good question.
Erm, I think I was twenty-six.
Twenty-six?
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And that seems to be...
I just want to stop Gapit for a second,
so I'd like to have a timeline on things,
just to get a reference point of where you were
at each part of your story.
So you were around twenty-six,
you at that point had the shop in Lugertown.
It was starting to move,
you were working every day of the year,
but turnover was like less than a grand a day.
Oh yeah, yeah, we had a shop again,
what we were doing back then,
of course, in the Pringle, we did £8,000 a week.
You made a 19% gross profit margin,
because 50% of sales were cigarettes,
where you were making 5%, 6%,
and you had to make more of other things.
And I remember my sister was a school teacher,
and she was earning £12 an hour,
and I thought, £12 an hour?
Gosh, I'd love to earn £12.
Because our hourly rate was nowhere near that,
if you work the hourly rate out.
So again, while we're talking about work ethic
and everything else, we had Tuesdays off.
Tuesdays were minding Manny's day off.
She said, well, I thought you said you did seven days.
Now, Tuesdays, we did six till ten.
So we did the first four hours,
papers and got all the shopping running.
Then we had ten o'clock, where we could go to Pets Corner,
with James, Harry, or whoever.
And then we were back for the last four hours,
as well, in the shop.
So our day off, we did eight hours on our day off.
And again, it is what...
But all this has happened.
I've always understood business.
I know that sounds daft.
Even when I gambled, I understood there's an income,
there's an outgoing, and what's left.
And I've always been...
I'd like to think I'm very good.
A lot of people who know me,
so you understand business, it's not hard.
I know it sounds daft, this.
It's not hard.
If you've got a house,
and you're struggling to pay your bills or anything,
you'll never be good at business,
because you've not cut your cloth of call,
it's what the income is, the outgoings are.
And I've always been able to do that.
And it is business, it's just that, really.
This is what's on the end of the screen now.
That's what we've got to make, and that's what you have to do.
When business is good, so in 1999,
I decided, so how old are then?
That was the year I was born, was he?
So I'm now 33 years old.
I'd say mine, is that right?
Yeah, 33.
Millennium new year.
Everybody's going to want fireworks.
So, right, let's settle fireworks.
But truth is, prior to the fireworks in 99,
because that was something I loved.
I was a shopkeeper, what?
Discovered a business of cashing checks.
And I said discovered it, there was actually a shop in Norton called the Money Shop.
And I thought, well, I had cash checks, and charged people a quid.
These are challenging people, 10%.
And we did check cashing.
That's where we made money.
That's where I always say to people,
it was a bit like winning the lottery,
because we had an income of probably me and Mandy between us.
We're probably an 800 pound a week between us doing, unfortunately, we're doing an 80 pound a week.
But that was our income, 800 pound a week,
which even today is still pretty good for a couple, you know, all right, you know.
But that's what we earned.
We then started cashing checks.
And when I say it was a bit like running the lottery,
our life was settled for that amount of income.
What car you drove?
I remember, again, dream car buying the BMW M5.
The M5 was, I've never paid over 10,000 pound for a car.
The M5 was 20,000.
Knew the car was 55,000.
And I remember buying this car thinking, who pays if I...
I thought, I'm a madman, 20 grand.
I think I've gone from one story to another story, but right.
So, you know, you buy what you can afford and what it is.
Now we started, I said, cashing checks.
And suddenly, we went from an 800 pound a week income between us to the check cashing,
build up slowly because we had to put money back into it.
Well, the M5, I'll tell you a bit of a story.
The M5 engine blew up, 10 grand for an engine,
and we started doing the check cashing.
And we were making 200 pound a week from it.
So I borrowed 10,000 pound from me, Dan, and said,
look, I can afford to pay you 200 pound a week back.
Didn't charge me any interest.
And I paid him, you know, I said,
look, I can afford to pay you back up.
Yeah, which is what we did.
But we weren't making 200 pound a week within period of going up and up and up.
And within space of less than two years,
we're now making 5,000 pound a week from check cashing.
This is not what our life was set up for.
Luckily, luckily, I wasn't gambling either.
I got control of that, you know.
And we'd gone from an income of 800 pound a week, let's say, to 5,000.
It was like, we didn't know what to do with the money almost.
It was like, oh, brilliant.
And you do.
And as anybody would have imagined,
you can now buy yourself, you know,
I remember buying a long jeans, watch it,
550 pound price, let's take a look at my lovely watch.
And now we could buy a Rolex.
Rolex watch, yeah.
And I've, now this is another thing.
My staff will tell you this.
Anybody who works for me, I look after it.
Way, way, up over and beyond.
And anybody who works for me will tell you this.
So back then, we're doing well, right then.
Buy him a motorbike, buy him a motorbike.
But you know, look after it.
Then it's how we are.
It's even, you know, bringing right to,
bringing right to this moment.
There's, business is good.
I've given all my staff this month a 15,000 pound bonus.
Some people work for people for 50 years,
lucky to get a grand when they finish, or whatever.
But again, why did you learn to be that way?
What taught you to be so generous?
Is that your mum and your dad?
Oh no.
Oh no.
My dad hates to go to a restaurant.
I'll leave a tip.
Oh, he'll break his arm.
I'm the opposite of my dad.
I love, I love, there's nothing I like more
than treating people and giving, it's my favourite thing.
And you know something, social media,
let's bring social media into this.
MrBeast, he's not the original.
I am the original.
And what do you mean by that Nigel?
What do you mean you are the original?
So, let's rewind 20 years.
When I bought the, oh by the way, there's another story.
So obviously we lived in a flat.
Our kids were brought up in a flat.
We lived in a flat.
We're happy we're living in a flat.
40 years old, we're now doing alright.
I'm buying a house.
We've never done a house before in our lives.
And I bought this house while living now.
So that was 20 years ago.
We bought a house.
My first house, a lovely house and I love it.
Lovely living house, I mean, other things I was told.
If it doesn't work, we'll go back to living flat.
Once I had an house, I'm not going back to flat.
But when I bought this house, this was my first mortgage.
So I'm now going to mortgage.
The person who sold him, he went to Canada
and left me a Mercedes S-Class with the house.
Not an expensive one, but £3,000.
I'd also decided because I've now got a mortgage
and at the time I had a post-cayam.
So that was a posh class still for me back then.
I can't have it anymore.
Now I've got a mortgage.
I'll have this old S-Class 3 grand anyway.
Didn't work out for me.
I couldn't live with it.
So 20 years ago, I decided to sell this Mercedes S-Class.
Worth, by the way, when I was selling it, £2,200.
This is an amazing story, by the way.
I want to tell you that.
This is why I'm the original.
Right.
This car's worth £2,200.
I've now got a mortgage.
I have to think about money a little bit more.
I didn't earn the money I earn now, by the way.
Guy comes to buy the S-Class.
Doing a bit of a deal.
We agree on £2,000 for a car, but he's got a number plate on it.
What I want to keep, we have to go drive to Sheffield
to take the number plate,
because that's what we had to do about it.
I'm going to the EVLA office, and we're driving there.
This guy's just self-pissed business.
It's an Indian chap, actually.
And I like him.
He's just self-pissed business.
So I'm going to do you a better deal on a car.
I thought we'd done a deal.
I said, now I'm going to do you a better deal.
I'm giving it here.
I'm going to give you the car.
What?
You can have the car.
He drove away from here thinking he was on some sort of TV program,
and he was on a candid camera or something, thinking,
why don't you just give me this car?
But I give it him.
Just give him the car.
So I help him out of business.
That's before any social media.
So I wasn't trying to get some views or lots,
or growing up social media, no?
I gave him the car.
Was that giving you the same buzz as you got from gambling?
No.
Just like no.
Now gambling was always I want the money.
Giving money is giving it.
And do you know that car I gave away?
So Mandy came home, obviously had an axe,
Mandy was still working.
She comes over and says, did what?
I said, give me a car.
She said, look what we've got.
I'm looking out the window thinking we've got an house.
And I said, have you got a house?
She said, have you got a mortgage?
And she said, I tell you what she did.
She was correct.
Mandy was correct.
She said, you shouldn't have given it to him Nigel.
We've got friends and what could probably do with a little bit of money
or help, whatever.
And what you should have done is not another £500 off.
Mandy's day, did absolutely love it.
And she was right.
That's what I should have done.
By the way, give me him.
Also to this day, 20 years later,
I've always expected a man coming to me,
saying, oh, I've got a great business now.
Thanks for what you did on the music.
Never heard of a scene of him since.
I've got no idea what the guy was.
And that's a little bit of a, I'd love to know what he was.
I'd love to know what it was while he was in this car too.
But again, again, again, all these things of sitting here talking about cars,
having all these dream cars now.
And once again, going back to this,
and I wouldn't say to people, this is the way you must go.
When I say, if you can't afford it, you don't have it.
I sit here in a lovely position where I have no mortgage.
Paid off, by the way, I paid my mortgage off.
Because obviously, anybody announced it before it,
I should have had a mortgage for 65.
How have you paid it off five years earlier?
Well, the answer to that one is, I bought a GT3 RS.
Sold it.
I paid £205,000 for it.
I'm now blacklisted at Porsche, which I'm up to it.
I don't mind.
I bought it for £205,000, sold it for £410,000,
I paid £175,000 for my mortgage, paid it off.
So I have no mortgage.
Also, all my cars, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Astra, Rolls Royce,
no money, no finance, there's nothing owed or nothing.
I don't owe a penny.
That's a good fit.
I mean, but I'm not going to sit here and say,
don't buy a Ferrari if you can't afford it.
What I would always say to someone is,
because I used to have car finance, I used to have car finance.
I was part of buying a car.
But I'd say do not get into negative equity.
So if a car is whatever it is that you pay,
let's say an average nice car is £30,000,
we'll say £30,000.
Only borrow 20,000, 22,000 most.
Do I ever be negative?
Leave yourself some address.
Yes, that's what I'd say.
But I don't think there's anything wrong with borrowing money on a car.
When was your first, oh my God, car purchase?
Because I've seen photos of you with like,
Ferraris outside your old shop, etc.
Where was your first like,
the same thing as what you described as buying your first house,
but with a car?
Ferrari 355.
Because everybody dreams of Ferrari.
Can we imagine?
Well, if anybody likes cars,
they did up until today, but they released their electric.
Oh yeah, we're doing this on the day that Ferrari have lost the most.
By the way, it's a pretty good day today,
because my FA is definitely worth £10,000 more today than it was yesterday.
I had to check my date today, it's first of April.
It's going to be first of April.
I would imagine they're not going to build that car.
They cannot.
It's like...
Surrenders, isn't it?
It's unbelievable.
There's nothing like the one that you had to begin with,
which was a 355.
So I bought...
I'm living in a shop, remember, in a flat above a shop.
We're doing alright though, check cash.
This is before you bought the house.
This is before they bought the house.
Obviously, the dream's of Ferrari.
355 Ferrari, there was actually a Ferrari,
but several at the time, where you go and look...
Obviously, you know, you don't want to go look at windows.
You're looking, you dream.
I know it sounds...
I never looked and dreamed and thought,
one day, because I was always content with what I had.
I was quiet, but I still thought,
gosh, I wouldn't tell if I'd love to have one.
I never really thought I'm going to work hard to try and get that,
because I didn't actually think that I'd have been on this.
I mean, I've always been...
Anybody who follows me on Instagram as well,
I'm not really doing this.
I'm not writing nothing else.
Will know I'm a little bit of a strange person.
I don't watch YouTube videos and all that.
Ben, you come here today, and I look on...
Oh, you interviewed some people.
I'm quite honored and all that.
I don't need... I don't need nothing.
When I said I don't need nothing, I'd say,
I need my wife predominantly.
Then I need the kids, and I need staff.
I'd say staff, and I'd be like,
don't like using the word staff.
We work together, just like, you know,
I have a hate for boss number play.
Boss, who do you think you are, boss?
Or CEO face.
You don't like?
Well, there is a journey. I'm convinced.
And then if you see it up here, lads do well,
get their first R8,
but then immediately get a CEO plate on it.
Well, Ben, obviously, I didn't actually know what I meant.
And I still actually don't, man.
So you're the executive officer.
Oh, right. Well, I didn't know it stood for that.
I knew it stood for you in charge of something,
or you bought it.
But I get what you mean.
It's just a bit too...
I don't think...
If you're a boss, buy yourself a decent number plate.
You bought yourself a Ferrari before the house.
Let's get back to 355.
So, I'm buying this Ferrari, £70,000.
And I say this to Monday.
Monday.
What people are going to think about me with this Ferrari?
I'm just a shopkeeper.
What people are going to say?
And I'm thinking,
remember, we're going back as well to a time when...
I feel there's other everywhere there.
Well, maybe I'm mixed with a group of people
who have all got Ferraris and McLaren's and Porsches,
but by then, nobody had a Ferrari.
There were very few people.
And I said to Monday,
so people are going to hate me.
They're going to throw eggs at me
and call me every day I'm under the sun.
And I was worried about that.
I genuinely was worried about what people think about you.
You know, driving a Ferrari.
You know, I know it's a dream, but...
You know, let's get the wording right.
A lot of people will say Ferrari
and look at that rude word, driving a Ferrari.
And I used to say, yeah, I'm going to get a double-bottle shot
because he's not just looking at driving a Ferrari.
Look at that fat driving a Ferrari.
Anyway, I said to Monday,
I said, oh, and once again,
Monday says the best things to me ever in life.
She said, what's it matter what people think?
Anybody who knows you, Nigel, knows how hard you worked.
And he says, that's the only people matter.
Anybody who knows you knows how hard you work.
And she's right.
And she comes out with sometimes...
And this is...
We're talking two years ago.
She came out with one what?
When I said this, I'd lend somebody some money.
£5,000.
I got ripped off.
And I came out of my house and I stood at the step
and I said to Monday,
when am I going to grow up and learn to stop
doing this sort of thing?
And a lot of women would have said,
you're stupid, idiot Nigel.
I could have had a new handbag out of that.
I tried not to cry.
She said to the other step, she says,
don't you ever change?
Don't you ever change the person you are?
And what's over to me, office?
I just thought to myself,
you're worth £5,000 to me.
Why I said that to me?
Don't you ever change?
And I love her.
I mean, she's my everything.
She looks after me.
She's an amazing woman.
And anybody who knows her knows this as well.
Her life is to look after me and her children.
And now I've grown kids.
Even I'm gobsmacked because I thought
I wasn't very good with my kids.
Won't deny that.
There's another little thing you could say
with the obsession of working,
that I had no time for kids.
I didn't have time for them.
Or I'm a man that took them to football.
We'll talk the time.
I want to deny it.
I also like working as well.
I was a little bit like, oh, I loved working.
Maybe because it was a feeling of winning.
Working wins by giving her a monetary ward.
So I'm getting that now instead of gambling.
I'm getting the monetary ward from working.
And I'm also a massive,
I'm a massive thing when people say,
money don't buy happiness.
And that's another one I really say.
I don't. Money buys happiness.
It doesn't guarantee.
It doesn't guarantee you're healthy.
It doesn't guarantee your kids are going to get run over
and it's really good.
Your grandkids are going to have wonky nose
and all that else, whatever.
But money buys happiness.
It takes so much relief off you.
You don't have to worry.
You don't have to worry about money.
And I quite be happy to go backwards.
So I did earn another penny now.
I said, why are you going to retire?
And he said, these are crass.
One and a half million pounds of the cars.
I can't spend that.
It sounds like the check cash-in for you
was something that was like,
oh my God, I've won the lottery.
This is insane.
So you're an upward trajectory.
Yeah.
Between that upward trajectory and now,
have you had the doof moments?
How have you saved yourself from...
Well, the reason I've never...
Well, right, man.
I don't see you tonight.
I don't work.
I'll do very little.
I won't say this is a guy.
I don't work.
I'll do very little.
Probably do a 30-hour week, right?
Which to me is not working.
Why has that not happened?
Have you always been...
Has it on the radar that life could change at any point?
Well, yeah.
So we're going to go into it.
Self viewers.
So you've pivoted since selling fireworks to doing what you do now
with bonkers, where you do both together.
So do you know what, Ben?
If fireworks get bad next week,
bonkers has new rules and what would do something else.
And whatever else we do,
I might be a little bit...
I will be different now than what I was even 10 years ago.
That's when I'm a 50.
That's when I've definitely changed an attitude of life.
Like I was saying, I didn't take my kids to football.
I thought I'd be better with my grandkids.
I'm not.
I'm not good with them either.
I'm not good with kids.
Mande is amazing.
Sit down, play with them for hours.
So she'll be downstairs,
I'll go sit upstairs in my little room,
watching telly.
You know.
Not good with kids.
Maybe something I've never learned to do.
Were you excited to have kids?
No, it seemed to me that's just what you did.
But you know what, with Harry and this bond with Harry,
it's like you wouldn't believe.
Again.
You know, I talk about Mande saying,
you know,
if Mande got cancer tomorrow,
give it to me.
I mean, sorry, get it,
but I was just thinking,
how does a similar thing when
you're not going to be able to do anything
and it's a similar thing when
I'll tell you a thing I said to Harry last year,
which I don't think I could say a better thing really,
if you know what I mean.
And that was, I said,
I'll shout it out here and I said,
do you know what I said?
Most children aspire to be like the dad.
If they admire the dad.
Some dads are probably not good.
I've not been the best dad
on bringing them up and taking them all of these
and playing with them.
I've always taught, I know it sounds daft.
The household, what we were brought up in,
had a religion.
The religion was work.
It's still the religion now.
Harry will get off people.
Ah, you've only done this because your dad's
put money into it, whatever else.
No, he has to work.
He has to do a minimum of a 50 hour week.
If he don't do a 50 hour work in week
and put the ev in to make sure that business works,
nothing to do with how much money you've got.
It's making it work.
Now, the thing I was saying is last year I went to Harry
and I said to him, I said, do you know what Harry?
A lot of children aspire to be like the dad.
I, sorry, you're supposed to have to say this.
I aspire to be like you.
You are my hero.
You are, he is the most honest.
Do you know me?
I told you when I was younger, I did things to get money.
Now even I think sometimes some gorgeous me is to say,
oh, I've got this.
I don't know what I'm even thinking of anything these days.
I'm not happy with years, but I don't know.
Let's get me telly.
$2,000 for this telly.
I want a grand for it.
You know, why would I say, why is it stolen?
Oh, I don't know how you're all of that.
Harry Woodham.
Harry's got no interest in anything that's not straight.
And I love him for that.
I love him for that.
I think it's brilliant.
And it's just the most honest, hardworking man I know.
That's my son, Harry.
Love him.
He, you know, again, I take cancer.
I take, I die for him.
Can't you gossip all that?
I have thought this, this, Harry and Mandy fall off a cliff.
I've got to save one.
Oh, I took myself off.
I don't know, but that one.
Now, all this talking about my son, Harry, and how praising him.
I've got another son.
Doesn't really do much social media.
He likes to keep under the radar, if anything.
James is 36, Mel, this son, obviously.
At least 36 next week on Wednesday.
He's the clever one of the family.
He's intelligent because me and Harry are both thick, but we're hard to work.
He's the intelligent one.
He's doing helicopter lessons now, wherever he's, you know, I don't like doing that.
No, we haven't done that.
I had to play an helicopter.
I wouldn't be able to do the theory bit.
Now he's the clever one and he's clever.
Very clever at school.
And then we talk about life again and how we've just gone about stories.
We don't talk about this much now because, but I'm going to talk about it here because it's one of the biggest things of our life.
My man is Harry's James's lives.
What's the biggest thing?
Well, he's a kid who's at school.
He's doing fantastic.
I mean, you go to school and you listen to teachers.
You know, he's moved to class above and all the rest of it and we know he's intelligent.
But it's 15, 16 year old.
He discovers marijuana.
Now remember I've had my addiction.
Now he discovers marijuana.
And let's say two years later, 18, he wants to, all he wants to do is legalize marijuana in this country and whatever.
But I'm sad here.
21 year old is 21 year old.
It's my son's 21st birthday.
And so do you want to write in his card?
What can I say?
There's not a good thing I can say about.
It's just, and that is just now drinking drugs to waste the space, waste the space.
But I try to buy him.
I give him a job because I think he want a job, but money.
This is what I thought about it then.
I'm a car, obviously crashes it.
Which can even fast forward to when it was so so series don't get any better than.
Do you have a lack of respect at that point?
It carried on.
And then,
his mum,
her alum, so
his mum goes to work.
He lived above the shop.
And his mum goes to work every day with Cray and every day that she's going to see him driving towards us.
They as go, he's trying to do something.
You have to pray and we're not religious.
We're atheists.
And you still pray.
You still pray.
Even when you're atheist, pray to where the powers be.
And you pray that is coming up with direction.
Because is this the day?
Is this the day he's committed suicide?
Because there was nothing else for him.
He was completely suicidal.
Couldn't see the point of any life.
Never had a girlfriend.
He didn't see any world to himself.
And you know something else Ben?
One day I thought he'd actually come to do it.
I genuinely thought he was committed suicide.
And I did it.
And this is a kid.
You might say you love because he's your son.
I hated it.
You can't explain.
I was like, I hated this person who went to see him and is in a bed, pissed and shit.
And everything's a mess.
The whole room.
I didn't want nothing.
All they wanted was a drink of Balenciaga.
So you couldn't help.
Can't do nothing.
And the day I thought he'd come to commit suicide.
I hated it.
Got this power on my thought.
I would give everything.
Everything.
Everything I owned my house.
Everything.
I'd give everything to save him.
I kind of hated that.
Because I thought he's ruining my life.
He's ruining his mother's life.
You know, you don't know what to do.
Anyway, at the age of 28, he would, you know, it didn't, it worked for us as well.
This was a nice thing.
It worked for us.
I tried to work if that's the way it was.
Sometimes I used to think he would do a good job.
There are all things I've learned.
He has passed it.
But when he used to do a good job at work, I used to think, oh, yeah, and he's not in a drink.
It couldn't function without drinking.
Which is the complete opposite to you.
Well, I never drank.
That's another thing.
I've never drank.
But we also had a guy who worked for us called David Sturgeon.
My staff and I, staff were tickle-on.
I mean, it became, me and Mandy loved David Sturgeon.
We loved him.
He worked for us.
It was amazing at working.
He was committed to work.
We loved him.
He committed suicide at 31.
We lost him to drinking.
And we loved him.
And again, just silly stories about what you give.
We never had any money in me and Mandy, but the first time we ever had money,
the first time we'd ever, I mean, we never had £10,000 in the bank.
Because there was a lot of people.
And because we're doing check cash in and all that,
we had £30,000 in the bank account.
And we felt like we're multimillionaires.
And I said this to people,
I gave the whole £30,000 to David Sturgeon to buy a house,
which was £33 grand.
Dead or present at the shop.
And I liked that because I gave everything I owned.
If I give somebody now £5,000,
that'll give them a difference to me.
I've got lots more.
Then I gave every penny in me and Mandy,
we never had £10,000 in the bank account.
But this particular year we started with the bank, with the check cash,
and also we had £30,000, gave the whole lot to him to buy a house.
This is Sturgeon again, good match drinking.
Let's get back to James Sturney.
So, here's a kid, well, again, a boy in a car.
We did it a few times.
This particular one was a Ford Mustang.
I'm thinking he's doing alright, he's working alright, and doing alright.
Ford Mustang on a Friday night.
His dream car by the way.
Ford, my son's, his dream car.
Car specialist in Sheffield was in, and I know the guy.
Didn't tend to buy a car, but it was there.
Sorry, I'm really...
Here's this car, £30 grand.
And buying it to James.
I want Sturney's son, I don't want to treat him,
I think in giving rewards what he likes.
But I thought he liked this again, I thought...
Because it'll encourage.
But I know now that it didn't matter.
The only thing that matters too was drink, drugs, alright.
I bought the car on Friday night,
saturday night, it's rolled in the field, next day.
Which it was.
Someone said to me, had it been drinking?
I said no, it was five o'clock in afternoon.
Obviously not.
It was, it would have been drunk.
Of course it would have been.
The only funny thing of this was,
once it was funny at the time, I always think,
because I'd not paid for the car.
I'd not paid for this car,
with insurance taxes, I was very lucky.
But on the monday morning I thought,
I'd have looked it up to that dealer's shit,
because remember it completely rolled,
all airbags, completely smashed us with rings.
I'd have looked it up to my mate who owned this car dealer's shit.
So I'm not bothered about the car,
it's got a few scratches on it.
And it was, I'm like, what the, you know,
it would have been an amazing Instagram video,
anyway, that's the funny side to what we're seeing now.
28 years old, remember we ate this,
and a lot of these drug drinking places,
tried to get it to turn to God,
and we didn't want that, or he didn't want that.
He's got to make that step, that's the thing.
So James went to a, kind of a,
it was a group, all ex-holocausts, down in Plymouth,
I think it was Plymouth,
I was getting me to do a Plymouth in Southampton.
He went right down there, he had to get a train,
so took you to a train station,
he says it was the hardest day of his life,
getting on that train.
He'll tell you that, he'll say,
that was the hardest day of his life,
getting on that train, to try and beat this addiction.
He went down there, three months, he was there,
lived with other alcoholics and everything else,
and again, an amazing story is,
we went down to Plymouth,
a couple of times, seeing him, but we went to go to see him,
I had no hope, remember I had, what, 28, 12 years,
and me some being a complete,
nothing works, so I didn't think this was going to work,
but we went down to Plymouth on this particular trip,
and this guy run the club,
these are things right now, right,
I'm an emotional person, I just get it wrong,
and this guy run this club said,
your son's going to save a lot of people's lives,
and I thought, my wrong person,
my son is inuseless, I just, I dismissed it,
so I was not that dismissed,
that, now again, I'll tell you then again,
I tell people this story,
and I will cry when I tell this story,
because I quite hope it, I will.
We'll get a tissue box.
Right, Ben, I can't help it,
whenever I tell this next story, I can't help it,
because people say, what's the best day of your life?
I think my kids was, I dropped Mandy off at hospital,
and I went off to Cashing Cary to get the stuff that had come by,
was it buying your dream car?
Buying Mandy's, bought Mandy a car,
which was probably one of the best days of her life,
because we reshared a car, and we turned up at a garage,
and had boring new BMW, and we sat outside crying for her,
and we couldn't believe we were buying a new car.
But, so is that your best day of life?
No, best day of my life, and I find it,
I've told this story to people 50 times, less than,
and every time I tell it, cry, because I can't help it,
because it evokes me now even.
So what's the best, what is the best day of your life?
What is the best day of your life, then?
The best day of her life was good to see James at that clinic.
What do you mean?
We went to a Ralph Laurenne Polo shop,
in the elder tea shop,
and it bothered me, it was a face with men,
and you had a face with a totally different tone,
and I've told this story 50 times,
so you think I'd get better at it, but it bothers me.
My son held a tea shop like that.
Then, what?
You were in a blind above before he went,
he'd be like that, and he held it solid steady,
his hand wasn't shaking, and it went like,
fucking hell, I can't believe it,
his hand was steady,
and it was the best day of my life,
seeing my son not shaking.
And, unbelievably, because there's a massive failure rate,
let's get that right, it's a big problem,
drinking's a massive, massive problem,
what is, he's promoted in this country and everything else,
and I'm a bit of an anti-drinker,
that's the word I can't help it.
I think it's worth saying I'm,
drinking was a massive part of me losing my dad.
He's a big, big, big, big drinker,
big drinker, you know, 710 points a day.
I think what it fakes me about is it's so,
it's fantastic, I'm watching football,
that's like, oh, we're going out drinking,
celebrating, but you have to get pissed to be happy,
we're on a bike, you know what I'm saying?
Right, anyway, James came out of, well, came home,
it's eight years sober now, eight years sober.
I've actually forgot, but we forget now,
there wasn't alcohol, we forget.
It was a different person.
He's a completely different person,
I mean, he's a completely different person,
a wife, he's got a child.
Uniforms.
He can't say these words,
because obviously Harry's been the angel child,
James has been problems, but you know what?
I am so proud of him, I'm so proud of him,
he runs the firework business,
he's made it so much better, I couldn't do what he does,
again, because he's intelligent,
systems in place, how it works, he runs it,
I couldn't do what he does,
we would have still been doing half the turnover
because I couldn't manage to increase our business,
like Eastern or that.
And it's amazing that the wording
I just told you a minute about,
when you said your son's gonna say,
right, he still goes to meet the elsewhere people,
and let me just tell you a little thing
of someone I met who sells watches.
So this guy who sells watches,
I went to buy a watch off him,
and James didn't allow him to tell me about people,
why he's helping and all,
it's like a secret world, if that's the wording.
And when he sees this watch guy,
and went in and he's obviously got,
in this world, put in that world,
he said, you don't know your son's the king.
He says, the king, I don't know what you mean,
he says, in our world, the king,
I'm like, I can't help,
someone tells you that,
that your son's in this world of helping others,
and he just floated back to me,
this is what this came out,
and James is gonna help other people,
and save people's lives,
and that's kind of what he does now.
He does that as well as works,
got a fantastic work ethic now,
obviously, because he has to have that,
because that's something I demand,
and I do demand it, a work ethic.
You know, this is another thing,
that if something needed doing,
he said, I can't do it because I'm winning holiday,
oh no, you better cancel that holiday then.
Work has to be done first,
they all know this,
don't finish at five o'clock if this doesn't work,
don't finish at five o'clock,
I'll do it Monday morning,
no, get it finished tonight, do it.
Luckily everybody who works with me knows that,
also everybody who works with me knows,
we do this stuff,
but you get a look to have proper to,
above and beyond.
And it is what it is.
I want to ask you about addiction,
because it actually links into a massive topic in cars,
which is the allocation system at Porsche,
and buying the next one,
and having to buy a certain car and all the rest of it.
And I know that I'm speaking to someone
that knows that world inside and out,
because you're one of the top customers
of Porsche United Kingdom,
one of the top customers of your local Porsche dealership.
Definitely.
For many years, and when I met you,
you were well and truly in your Porsche phase.
Orange Porsche after orange Porsche.
Tell me about where that started,
and as car purchasing,
and especially that side of it,
ever become an addiction?
No.
I've never been a...
Yes, I like cars.
Now, with Porsches,
they have a system,
they have a game you have to play.
By buying normal cars,
you also, because you're a good customer,
and the system's great.
A lot of people say,
oh, I can't get one.
Look, you can reward your best customers.
So the best customers get the GT cars,
but you've got to buy all these other cars,
which is fair enough.
The way I see it is,
I bought all these other cars,
made a load of them on the GT car,
probably even now.
There's not a massive...
As much as you think there's a big game.
So talk us through where it started with Porsche for you.
She talks us through your first Ferrari.
I think with Porsche,
I did have a 911 quite...
I don't know if I did have a 911 before I had a Ferrari.
I just remember...
But, of course, people like cars, you know,
Porsche, Porsche to me, I just...
Something Porsche cars.
Why?
I think there's a number of reasons.
The bill, you can...
Amarim, they don't break,
or break on the least.
It could also be,
there's a dealership.
You know, where's my Lamborghini dealership?
Did you book cars away?
Obsessed with the idea of getting an allocation for a GT car.
I'm a businessman.
Reality.
So as much as it's right,
hang on, you can buy a...
Because I remember cars...
All my life, I've been down to everybody.
Right, waste of money. Cars, how much money are you going to lose on cars?
All this money you'll lose on cars.
Which, pretty much, I've always done.
Always lost money on cars.
Erm...
That's the reality.
Always lost money on cars.
Oh, hang on, if you're already a GT car,
so you don't lose any money on them?
And sometimes, they're worth more than you pay for them.
Really?
Oh.
I thought, well, I'm a good Porsche customer.
I'd buy a new Porsche.
At least every two years, we'll swap this one.
We'll buy a new car every two years.
At least every two years, I'm a good customer.
Oh, no, you're not.
Oh, no, you're not.
Good customers.
Buy two or three cars a year.
Really?
Yeah.
Oh.
Right then.
How do you got to have a Porsche?
Man, you've got to have a Porsche.
I've got to have a Porsche.
I've got to have a Porsche.
I'm going to need to swap them every year as well.
So you just...
And that allowed you to get a...
I had a GT3 RS, we'd then Porsche.
And I completely agree with Porsche as well.
It's not like I'm against them that...
Okay, they let you have this car.
But you've got to let them have it back to sell it
where they have half the profit.
Well, it's fair enough.
Everybody's doing all right.
I mean, I think that's a good enough deal.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Deal.
And my Porsche dealership worked in a system.
You've got points.
You've got points for buying a car.
You've got points for having finance in a car.
You've got points for selling them back to them.
Very, very, being honest, a very fair system.
It was.
But to get out there, you've got to buy lost cars.
You've got to have finance in cars.
If you don't want finance, grab a bit of finance.
You've got to have...
When you're doing with it, sell it back to them.
Even with it, it's a cayenne mechanic.
Let them out there.
So you play the game.
It's a game.
Nothing on the point game.
But as I said, they have the car back.
Now, I personally...
I'd open buying three Porsches.
Right.
Everybody's got Porsches.
When I'd like a Ferrari, I'd like it from the Nel.
Right.
So when I got the allocation for the 992 GT3 RS,
it was like, wow.
Wow, wow, wow, wow.
I'd had to speech as well, which was supposed to be going to be worth all this money.
It wasn't...
It's all right, don't get me wrong.
Like, they were 30 grand more than you pay for them.
By the time you split it with Porsche, let's say you make 15 grand.
It's nothing...
It's all right, but it's nothing to get overly excited about.
Now, the new 992 GT3 RS is out.
I'm getting one of the very first ones.
It's coming through.
£205,000 this car.
Get off at £410,000.
Right, what do I do?
I offer you that Porsche dealership or a private individual.
Another dealership would have got a footballer who wanted the car.
Who's going to pay them?
£450,000 for it?
Now, another thing, I don't do things...
under-handed, so to speak.
I'm not going to say, right, Porsche, I sold it secretly.
I found Porsche fuel, though.
Look.
This is what I'm going to do.
Well, you do do it, Nigel.
We can understand this is your car.
You can do what you want with the car.
But you won't get another GT product.
We're not happy about it.
But there's nothing we can do about it.
I said, well, I know, but I'm still telling you this is what I'm going to do.
Because it's on a fair, so I'm not going to secretly...
I said, that's what I'm going to do.
There's nothing they can do about it.
But they explained to me, yeah, they're going to do it.
You won't get another GT car.
I said, oh, I'm not bothered.
I'm not bothered because I want to sell this car.
The only thing I owe money on is my house.
I pay my mortgage off.
So anybody who says, why do you do it?
I pay, right, this is another thing.
You see all these, you know, podcasters, Rob Moore.
Love Rob Moore, by the way.
Borrow money.
You know, don't pay a cow's off.
Don't, you know, make...
But I'm not going to say that.
I'm not going to pay a cow's off, you know,
but the feeling, paying your house off
and having no mortgage, always...
because as much as I like money, and I don't,
I will cut my cloth at least.
If I, you know, if I ain't got the money,
I'll drive wherever I come in.
I would probably always have the best car I could afford,
whether that's a Nissan Cache guy,
or a Ferrari, that'll be what I drive. But yes, paying your mortgage off is not off.
Anybody who says, oh, put money in says, no, pay your mortgage off. You feel amazing. It's the most
nice not to own money on a car or to own very little, maybe, because when I say very little,
I have thought about having a car finance, and the king from Apollo CAC,
but I'm big enough to be alright. It's such a nice blow. And I think sometimes, do I go and borrow
a million pounds and get a 918? Because this is my dream car. And then I think, why are you talking
about? What are you thinking about? What are you talking about? I've got two sons, I've got mortgages,
I've got Jason, who's got plenty of money by the way. But it's same enough to buy an house,
don't want a mortgage, he's just thinking, oh, if you're not having no car, in fact,
sometimes I think GT2RS sat there, get his soul, pay your son's bloody mortgages off,
let Jason go and buy an house he wants to buy, and you can say, well, why don't you do that? I do
quite a lot. When I say, you've got to be a bit careful. You always want to treat your children.
Anybody who says, oh, no, you want to, you want to help them, obviously, you try not to
spoil them. So let's just take December last year. Some of these numbers I come out with, to some
people, for nothing, to other people, and I think to most people in my world, who I know, these are
obscene amounts of money, to me, because I'm, you know, you go to petrol stations, people can't
put 10 pounds, they put 10 pounds of petrol in, they haven't got 50 quid for petrol. So when I come
out with a number for this last year, I give both my kids, I wanted them to have £150,000
bonus at bank, which means because the tax purposes got to pay them £300,000. So I give them as a
bonus last year, £300,000 wage bonus, which, you know, unfortunately, we have to pay tax on it,
but obviously, I left with whatever it was on 55, wherever it was. And that's already, I think,
spoiling them, it's a big bonus, which I do, but, you know, I don't know, you know, but
I think Arrios eats your annattoise mortgage, but to get to a place where you're able to have so much
free cash in the business, to be able to do those things, to look after those people,
you've obviously learned that you need to be making margin left, right and centre.
The last time I came, you just set up bonkers competitions, and you just set up bonkers
competitions. And the fireworks, ever since beginning to sell them had been the biggest part of your
life, right, the biggest part of your business. Talk to us about the size of the businesses now.
Ben, this is where the big, the big, I would say, so I'm a shopkeeper selling newspapers,
everything I could possibly can, alcohol, I was selling everything, in a little shop,
I got everything in that shop. Well, then you cash checks as well. Oh, yeah, but then we also did
mobile phones. Oh, he's had most street, then all we did fireworks. So doing all these things.
Now, the problem is, you've only got, no matter who you are, I'm going to say, you've only got a 60
hour working week, if you work hard. You've got to put your 60 hours into the whatever's
making the most money really. So as a shop when I was selling milk and bread and potatoes and
things, hang on, I've got to stop doing that because I can make more money doing the fireworks.
So the fireworks became the business. But it is seasonal. But I've always wanted other strings
to be like, no, we've got some properties we're in as well, which is consuming income.
But the fireworks then was the, the check business by the way, was going checks with his
vanishing that disappeared back a lot of businesses. They can do very well at first, but
which they were check cash was brilliant first charge 10%. Everybody cool with checks.
More and more people do it. Your 10% comes down to now charging 4%. But it's only done with 4%
and you've got a probably 2% overheads. So when we're charging 10%, you made 8%
gross profit from it. You know, when we're charging 4%, we're making 2. Didn't just go from 10 to 4,
it went from 8 to 2, really, because we could avoid the overheads that they were always a 2%.
Anyway, that business disappeared. And then you could so because we do fireworks, well,
do you do it a season? That was the thing. Now, you might have noticed from past when Harry
decided, we'll try selling a few car cleaning products. So our friends Nick from young car
detailing said, right, you sell that will give you commission or what? And we'll sell in 1000
pounds of car cleaning stuff a week, make it 20% on it. So it meant 200 pound a week. Now 200
pound a week is a sideline. It's all right. It's a sideline. Not a job. It's not full time. But
it's just not easy. You know, 200 pounds not. It's a good little sideline. What else are we doing?
And we had time on the Zans. Anyway, one of the things was we did it with fireworks first and
we thought, right, well, let's people win fireworks, which in turn then led to focus competitions,
which once again, Harry said, we were doing kettles and toasters and dream was to do a Rolex
watch. That was the dream. We obviously very excited first how we did a Rolex watch,
so we're going to Rolex watch. And we've now done over 1500 Rolex watches on bonkers. Cars.
Not so many toasters anymore, but we totally honest with you. But become
doing a very good job, I would say, of bonkers. But I don't say that's because
Harry is very dedicated to that job. As I've already said earlier, he wants things to be right. We're
very honest because that's for us. Is it real? Unfortunately, we can't avoid it. Sometimes
people say, leave one last week. He's won six Rolex watches. I've been playing for three years. I've
never won nothing. Well, that's because realities, they put more money on. Another realist is people.
Without naming any names, what's the most amount of tickets someone has bought in monetary terms
for a competition? One draw, 20,000 pound. There's people out there spending 20,000.
There's one particular guy, well, we'll spend 5,000 pound every week.
10,000 pound a week. There's a couple. Is it gambling? It's a former gambling guy now.
That's why you don't want everyone, I don't want anyone to enter trouble for it,
which we don't. But then don't get me wrong, there's going to be new rules and regulations
coming for people doing this. Because you see it, there's lots of people doing it now.
Does it make good money?
It's become a bigger business than the fireworks.
My firework business is hard work. I mean, it's hard work. At the season, we're pulled out of
there. We're pulled out, we're working. You're selling a firework and have your customers
spending 300 pound, you've got to pack your delivery. Everybody wants them in the same
kind of window. It is hard for us period of time. I always say we do four months hard work,
four months normal work, four months of doing nothing. Now, bonkers is all the time. And obviously,
you don't take me to, you know, I'm just not enough secret. What does it sell every week?
Oh, if you go to bonkers, you'll see we have three draws a week. Choose in Fridays,
a live draw, Sundays at the moment. This is what we do at the moment. Sundays is an automated draw.
Well, when you put a Rolex watch up and you can say, well, the watch is 30,000 pound, you've sold
30, well, we've obviously sold 30 grand. Plus there's other things that won't work you tell
anything. Well, hang on, they're selling 250,000 pounds of the Tiki Sui million pound a month turnover.
I don't have to tell you that. Quite easy to do a website and see it. And I'm very proud of that,
very, very proud of what we've gone from a... And even at 20 or 30%
profit, you're generating big amounts of cash. It's not that.
Fibers, for instance, what did I this people buy fibres on themselves? Sorry,
it's a good profit. Good problem. You know, and once again, I say it's a good profit.
It's a good profit, but we have to run all year round. We have a 70,000, we have a restore at
Lincoln. It costs a 70,000 pound of eaves, sorry, a year, storing fibres. You think,
what's that work out? You know, 1500 quid a week just for storing fibres,
cost an egg explosives. You can't just bring in some warehouse that corner.
Everything's awkward with fibres. And you've only got a small window to sell them. So the profit
was just to be high. You know, again, I'm not embarrassed to say this really, like,
you know, we double our money on fibres. Somebody buys a thousand pounds versus 500
pound gross profit in it. Or that's a good earner. You sell our brands with them at 500.
No, we make 10%. We're down to 10% after the overheads. We make 10%. Oh, now what, you sell
1000 pounds with them at 100 pound? Yeah, that's what we really make. Can't avoid storage. It's
quite a void here. Longer's on the other hand. Bigger turnover. Much lower profit,
lot lower. You know, there's still a profit margin. Of course, there'll be items where we lose money.
That'll always happen. Overall, though, you make, you're trying to make a profit. Of course,
trying to make a profit. The number of people I see, what are setting up competition sites and
losing money, actually losing money to try to sell it up. I believe this with any business.
It's irrelevant what business you're doing about whether you're selling cars or whether you're
might be selling cans of Pepsi Max. You know, you've got to work at it and you've got to some
because, you know, how much did I make this week selling cans of Pepsi Max? Nothing because I don't
sell cans of Pepsi. That's not my job. The job is bonkers. Little bit of my job. No, I'm a
still off. This is another thing. They're selling the ship. James and Harry sell the shipment.
James sells the fireworks ship. Harry sells the bonkers ship. But I'm still the captain,
but I'm downstairs now in the galley just eating food. They're enjoying myself. Every now and
again, I just have to chase the right direction. And I think that's probably how it is these days.
I'm just with you. Plus, I don't like stress. hassle.
This and there's always problems. The business has problems, hassle.
And I kind of don't want it or need it. I've always been, this is again, this is another word.
Word, what I can't bring into importance in people's lives is contentment. You could sell, look at you
was sad, contentment. But you're all these fancy cars and your house prayed for and
you know, I'm having a swimming pool built at home and oh, you know, oh, brilliant.
But well, me and Mandy were content when we lived in a flat. We never, we couldn't believe we had a
Toyota Corolla. We couldn't believe the day that we had a shared car, Dave Sturgeon, Mandy
shared a Ford Focus. The day my wife, Mandy, we bought a brand new car. Remember, she's lived her
life. She's from a council house. She's always wanted a new bike. Never got a new bike, never got
a new bike, was right alive, was something that she wanted. So the day we could buy her, we turned
up at a car sales as car place, I said, I've a exact car. And I said, there was a number plate,
what kind of said Mandy, M6NDE. And I said, Oh, we'll put that on focus. And we pulled up and
there's this number plate on a Ford Focus, not Ford Focus, this BMW, yellow BMW, by the way,
Dakar yellow, 18,000 pounds car was at the time. And we pulled up and man, she said, that number
plate is on that car. Remember, this is my second very day of life, right? And I said, Oh, boy, car
and all we say in that car, me and Mandy. Yeah, only 20 minutes, maybe half an hour.
Come get out of the car, I was just crying his eyes out. Look, a brand new car.
You're amazing. Remember, cars are probably worth to have something I love.
Why was, why was that? What got your car obsession? Because it's not only the cars you love.
It was a gift, but it's track and record. It's track obsession as well, isn't it? You're mad
into your racing and track. Well, I do love it. But that's because Ben, anybody who knows me,
anybody who's been on a track day with me, it always was fun if I turned up in a fancy car,
big fat bloke, looking even in his fancy car. By the time I got on track, anybody who went,
because I like people can drive, right? They might be in a red old club, but they can go for it.
There were people in, that said turbo s, I want to try there. There was something GT3 RS,
just leave my turbo s for dead. No, it's me overtaking them. I've told you this, and I don't
say it lightly because it's a fight. You come on a track day and would you say you're a good driver?
No, I'm a very, and I said that. We went on a track day last week to, we don't do much of it
now because that is too busy. And it's a shame because it's something that I love. We went on a
track day to Donington and I must have over, I know I'm in a turbo s because it's a car.
Yeah, give me a slower car. I remember Toti Harris once overtaking a turbo s and thinking,
does he feel embarrassed? I'm in a Toti Harris. Anyway, GR. So when I went to Donington last week,
so I ever took 300 cars. No one's even come close up behind me. So how's that work then?
And I have to say, anyway, it's been on a track day being an ARI up.
Prince who went to Blight in a couple of weeks back with Javelin. We like these Javelin days.
And I don't really like going out with Harry. And I don't. Because I like to think out fastest there,
but he's got some, an ability. And anybody who's been with him,
so many people have been out and said, why aren't you racing? He's got some real natural ability
and because he's got some degree on the end, he's busy working, he's got to keep me in my
life of luxury. But for instance, when I went to Blight and I'm in the turbo s,
he was in a Cayenne turbo GT and I can't get it. He's up my ass. He reckons I've let him pass.
That's another story. When I went out with him in the turbo s and even I was like,
I was scared, but he seems just to be able to do it. He's got some sort of very,
and anybody who's been out with him will tell you that anybody who's been out himself can try.
People go out with me and think, you're a fast driver. Go out with him and this will,
you know, I'd challenge him against any of these, but he's got a scary moment on track.
Oh, I've come off so many times. So many times. Harry's never come off. That's the other weird bit.
I think, oh, that's so many bed. I'm aggressive. trying to go smash the car
all go. You know, my favourite one is at Croft. Honda Civic Type R.
They've got this Honda Civic Type R out there and I go, come on, man. I'll show you how to drive this.
Getting, I guess you'd pass and see at Croft. That is the one up north, isn't it?
Off I go straight down and I'm trying to show off. So I was fast looking.
First bend straight off into hot stones. All the wheels, all the makin' noise.
And the best thing was, and Harry said to me, looked at me and said, thanks for the lesson.
Yeah. And I remember again, going back, he always says to me, this was again a Cadwell Park,
actually, this one. And he'd bought an A45, his dream car at the time is A45. And even in
something else, and I was in his A45, and he's coming round and all he could see was me and
A45 spinning round, going into all grass and when we pulled in grass between wheels and tyres.
Yeah. It's entertaining. Yeah. Yeah. I probably do push. When I say push cars, I don't drive like
that anymore, really, if I'm being honest with you. Just like when you get older, you can't drive
like that. It's the natural thing. You can't. Do you worry about taking out the value of these
cars anymore? Yeah, the two RSs become a Gallage Queen, which is a shame because he's got
Mantyra, it reminds me of Mantyra's race, distance, suspension, which again, if you're taking your
two RS on a trike, makes a massive difference. I mean, such a difference. That car should come
standard with that. But when you do take it on a trike, it's like a political game. The accuracy
of the car, the speed of it, the power of it, it's scary, but it's an unbelievable car. Harry says,
in the two RS, bring any car you want, even an SF928XH, which by the way, is unbelievable.
He's had to race anything. He said, I'll take anything, though. That's how good that car is.
But then again, the grade you was in, the last six months, these cars, because I've had that
five years, that car. And it was always a car that, oh, first of all, I'm not really buying
cars to make money. It'd be nice if they don't lose money. But the two RS has been stagnant for four
years. It's just stayed at the 300 to 350 value. This last six months are half a million quid.
I'm like, that's all right. It'll never get sold. The two RSs, the only car never get sold. The FA
is the most, something I wanted to do, a super car, what looks amazing, it's a Ferrari. It is so comfy.
And yet, ballistic with that 700 brake horsepower, rear wheel drive, there is no better car.
You know, someone like this will get pissed, another one. My two RS,
tell you that, and that, by the time you get round about, someone's road, oh, let me out.
Oh, I mean, it's solid. It's horrible. FA, so comfy. I mean, so, such an amazing car.
STO, it's the sound, the sound of that. And then you can see, okay, Rolls Royce Cullinan.
I never speed in that. I know it's a wheelie, should be speeding any car. It's very hard,
and some of these cars not to speed, but the Cullinan, just a waft, just a big, fat waft.
Problem is, the Turbo S cab I've got, 992 Turbo S, that's, you know, just a problem.
The FA is amazing, but you can't kind of use it daily. The Turbo S can use daily,
just the ultimate all-rounder, I'd say, the Turbo S. Is that where you drive the most?
No, in fact, Rolls Royce. Have you still got a Eurus? Right.
So, someone asked me yesterday, if you only had one car, what car would you have?
They're like, I don't own it. I don't actually own it anymore. I don't have it.
Oh, it was my grandson. I said, I don't own the car. If I could only have one car,
what car would you have? Lamborghini Eurus, Performante. Performante, because it looks
fantastic. I mean, I was your house thing. I had people buy Performantes because they've got steel
suspension, whereas the other Euruses have got air suspension. And the steel suspension on the road
is much harder, but it looks better. I suppose like buying a GT3 Porsche over a Turbo S.
GT3 looks better, but it's an everyday car, it's not a right car. But Performante is not really,
you'd be better off than it. If you're not going on a track with it, which most people
will not go on a track with the Eurus, probably don't need a Performante. But you shouldn't have
a Performante. Now, I had the normal Eurus and went on track with it. And unfortunately, pushing it,
the air suspension goes, it's not good enough. Got a Performante, never went on track with it,
and I should have done. Should have done. And I don't own the Eurus. But if I had one car,
it'd be Eurus. Just such a... I mean, everything about it, the build quality, all the Alcantara,
it's still a... Also, a Eurus, you're not going to avoid this. If you're buying a 250,000 pound car,
it depreciates so little. Because, oh, what do you mean? I'd say that car in first year lose 35 grand.
Or, on a 250 grand car losing 15% in first year is not a bad result. My Cullinan, for instance,
probably loses 50,000. He's got to. Again, I have this from pretty well, he said,
how much does this car cost? How much does it cost? I think, well, you don't understand it. Often,
they don't understand it. That Cullinan, I paid £405,000 for. Second hand, I'm just having a million
equino. I paid £405,000 for it. If someone were going to buy that next week from a dealership,
and so on, I'm putting £105,000 down. I'm going to borrow £300,000. The £300,000 you borrow at
8%, what's that? £24,000 interest. If I had that about you, I'd go, what's that? That's
£408,000, £60,000, £70,000 a week. Interest. I've got that right, yeah?
Can you just think, it's just interest on £300,000? You've put your grand down. Luckily,
I don't have that. Because I don't have that, I just have the appreciation, the big one,
£300 a week. Let's see if we have anything else. But that's why, again,
because on Instagram, can you do as a prom room? Firstly, I don't want my interest.
Please don't ask me. I don't do them. If I know you, I might do it. There's a friend for nothing.
But I put a most, because this owl would pay you when it cost them. Someone on a
tin of petrol, the biggest expense is depreciation. So I'll cover my costs this way then. In fact,
I was, in fact, I don't say $13,000. I say, it's £2,000. Oh, for £2,000 is your problem, yeah?
These things cost fortunes a lot more than people realise, which is understandable.
But with things that cost fortunes in terms of cars, which you love, and you love driving them
and ringing their necks, watches, which you also love, and have become a massive part of your
business, really, with bonkers competitions. And you have a stunning, what have you got on there
today, sir? Well, this is a daytoner. I wear this every day. Blue bezel. Proposal to sell that,
I might get mugged now. But this is my plan on daytoner. So this gets worn every day. It's
scratched to death, because I wear it every day, even though I don't do a lot of physical work
these days. But I wear this relevant one, when this gets put every day. But it was my 60th birthday.
65 weeks ago. Even though this is the more expensive watch, my wife, Mandy Borton,
and my dream watch. I had one of these before, but they're flashing. But it is my favourite watch
in the world of any watch. And she bought me a Yachtmaster 2 in gold, which is a much cheaper
watch. It's a £30,000 watch, still an expensive watch. That's my favourite watch. But I saved
that one for best. So you wear an £80,000 watch as a daily, but the £30,000 watch is my favourite
as a the best. Yeah. And I do it. Yeah. Yeah. You made a joke about getting mugged then, but that
was actually a really scary part of your life. So there was two moments to me that I remember
back from following you, which was one of you running down your very, very steep drive. That's
right. And smashing a window. I'm putting your hand through a window of a car that had caused
to rob you. That's right. And you went straight through that windscreen. And then I went to
a side window, trying to smash that girl on you. And the other one was a story about a group of
guys that broke into your house. So which one came first? The driveway. I know I'm 60 now,
I'm very, very unfit. But again, being brought up in a shop, by the way, we have
shoplifters and things. I wouldn't say I'm a fireteeth, I'm not a fireteeth. But on a couple
occasions, I've had to fight customers. You know, they're not like, you know, I remember one,
once I was out of the juice stairs and on this intercom is a particular guy in shop.
And get that bastard down here, right, wherever. And I wasn't sure if they wanted a Mandy or me.
He had to ruin me. So you go down and they want to fire you, you know, and, you know,
go out and show him he's happened. And I'm only saying that I am definitely a fighter.
But I will, I do have a voice said this, I've got a dark part of my heart.
There's a dark part. I don't know that everybody has a dark part. I actually don't know that,
but I know I've got it. I have a dark part where it's almost part where you think it fades as you
get older. As you get older, you don't need it or you don't, don't go to it.
You know, you talk about that golf. I remember in me told to light his van with Mandy,
going back to when I was 21, she was 18. I said, oh, we kill us both in this van.
And we broke those jammers on, temper again, smashed the windscreen and that.
Van, let me van, smashed the windscreen temper. And as you get older, your temper
definitely fades. Once you've got me on son James, and he says, I want to speak because,
you know, you can lose it. And once we were supposed to have some money, what we did again,
do you know, obviously it was addiction. But dad had saved a put saved a thousand pound a year for
10 years. You got this money, what we're always to open by an house. And I said, don't you dare to
touch that money for drugs or else. And it's all the other and then I didn't believe him that
there's years later. And to wrap, we're going to bank. I want to go and see I'm taking you to bank
now. I want to see that money. And yeah, it's definitely there. So we're getting calm. We're
going to bank. Not way that it's not there, dad. Bent it. Middle of the dual garage way.
I just fucking started to swear at them. Put brakes on and break on. Just start to build a dual
car. Honestly, with temper. Which I think like to think a bit of a temper, you know,
sometimes I definitely sometimes I'm road rage. But as you get older, it goes. But I also know
it's there still is there's always a reason to come. I like these complete under control. But
I also know some of the game still me watch, for instance, which they did that day. Well, even
now, so I'm going down fighting. I mean, I am not. You know, people said, give it me.
I know I can't. I just know I can't. I'll stick your fucking sorry, I'm getting a bit of an ideas
because I'm going to tell you how it gets to them. And I know I'm right. So if he stood there with
an eye and know me to me, stick that fucker in me because I'm still gonna fuck him. Sorry,
I'm sorry. I'm still gonna fucking lamb you. I think the people have people have that temper.
And you know, there is they do you think they came that day in broad daylight? There was four of
them in a golf. There's many people here. So that was the thing. Oh, hang on. There's people who
because I don't think they'd case the joint out then. Oh, no. Remember, we've had worse than that.
I've had worse than that. You know, people say people again, so I've had burglars. I like burglars.
Burglars piss off when they get disturbed. Remember also this hours now is like four
notes as far as cameras and that because we got we had an attempted someone to come and tie us up.
We had that where they were going to tie us up.
You know, we've had an attempt to that.
And you don't think it was the same lads? Oh, no. I thought there was car on trial and was it?
And then a street blows with torches on that clovered up. And was that in the day? No, no.
Two o'clock in morning. So you had the one first which they turned up in broad daylight.
Yeah, yeah. Did you just think they're for delivery or something?
Well, I had to deliver last week from Amazon and had Amazon phone me to say
complain from the delivery driver. Why? Because the guy who came
is wise in thing. But I don't know this point. All I've seen is a car pulled up and they've
got a mask on. She's got a mask on. Again, I'm ready. We don't again, you've probably seen on
my Instagram, we have all the we are quite security conscious now, even more so.
Room films always smell direct from the police. It's brilliant that smell thing,
by the way, if you're not seeing them, they're a big thing. No, we're just films with smoke.
And it's like, you can't see anything. Brilliant. Because I can't stop that. You know, obviously
nightweapons, alarms on this detector, what holds everybody and you know,
but I didn't think for five years now, not anything.
To the second one, which is obviously the one that's the bad one.
So that was me through what was going on because you're obviously, as you talk about,
you're at peace, you're happy, all the rest of it. So I'm picturing,
you know, not caring the world happy in bed, what happened?
Always been conscious of burglary. You know, I had a shop. We got these. I've been rumberaided.
And remember that time I had two big, raw wireless. But again, I thought, I thought,
Mandi dropped tell you so upstairs, but anyway, I'm ready. I would do newspapers with my
at six o'clock in the morning. I'm marking newspapers up.
Ram raiders come, but they didn't work for him. Anyway.
So I've always been conscious of burglary, staffed always. I've lived in that world of that.
But again, here, when we lived here, the house wasn't as protected as the office.
So because it was my house, we didn't want cameras watching this and doing this.
Obviously, since that happened. And again, I hope so. So this very nice that we were able to spend
13000 quid on security. Why was that somebody else? And they haven't got that
money to spend on security. You know, maybe they don't target someone who's not going,
you know, the target, it didn't come to burglars. It came to take us up. And I even know the story
of a friend of mine, because honestly, this happened where they cut to wrists and said,
you've got 30 minutes horseshoes, but bled out. If you don't give us what we want.
So we don't, I know it's just, I'm not as famous to put people off. So we now don't keep
things. We have it. We don't keep things of real value. Got this on the wrist. I mean,
we don't keep things, anything, anything extra. You know, people have watched collections,
we don't keep them. We don't even have an extra watch. Not a year. It's, I don't, you know,
can't have a year. We've got a, it's called the Saved and Deposit box,
called Metro Bank of the Cold. So anything you've got put in there,
because it could happen again.
And you think that's what it was for?
And it was, I was very lucky. They ran away.
Three of them, mass, all white men. I bring that into it, all white men. You know what I said
about me? You can have a dark side. On Instagram now, you can't, you can't really have opinions
and tell people to blow this week. Got roof. Do we know what I think? Shoot him. Oh, you know
how to say that? That's a shoot him. Shoot him. I don't know. I'm not gonna, you know, to me,
that it was just to waste the titles by a day. So those three men are broken my out.
Someone could say, well, you must, you've got some mental problems Nigel, because
you give me a knife now, I could quab stub. We are, we are probably, that's five years later,
six months on England bed, for every day. We're still, right, well, it's over five years now,
five years on, even though we've got all the security system, man, this still looks every
door in the house at night, every night. I said, don't need to knock, she still does.
Every door at night, in fact, she, and it's bad. Those people do well.
You know, you can see a, say, oh, I could quite happen. And I'd be at, I'd be at
court once, oh, you buddy murdered my lad, you know, chomping me out doing that.
But this government, this will, the living, you know, well, really, this way there's some
kids being killed, but nothing's happening yet. Someone puts a tweet on Facebook, they get two
years in prison. I hate, I do actually hate the government. I've never actually said the word,
the word hate, when you say hate somebody, that's a strong, horrible word. And I think,
you see anybody you hate, I hate them three men who broke him out. I mean, I hate them. I could
stand to them. And for some reason, I've got hatred for Kier Starmer when I see him, I can't
stand him, I think. I'm puzzled at the man, how he lies and says, it's pathetic. How,
and I hate, I do actually hate them, which is really strong. But yeah, him and the, and the
burglars, they weren't burglars again. There's a big difference between burglars, I said, than
someone I would. And I want to bring up something completely different, your relationship with food,
because we've spoke about your relationship with gambling, cars,
your relationship with money, everything, I want to talk about your relationship with food, because
you are really prominent on social media. And over the years, you've been the target of so much
abuse when it comes to, Ben, I don't get a lot. And it sounds down to think I get, I actually believe
why I checked a video this morning, which was Britain's flashiest families on YouTube,
okay, which is a channel five documentary. And there was some, there was some hate under that
video. And I mean, does it affect you? It was a face. Yeah. When someone tells you,
you know, listen, this is the thing. So of all these things have just been back cars and all that
gambling, whatever else, food's my favorite. Oh, all food's top of the list. You said to me, right,
then, no more food or no more cars, which ones going cars are going off the city. Absolutely
love cars, because no, but I love every aspect of food. I love, I love the going out for all of
the thoughts of it. I enjoy eating it. So yeah, well, that's why you're really 25 stone, you know,
I would do this is again, would you swap your fuel set to me, take your GT2 RS with half a million
pound, we'll have that car, but we'll guarantee you'll be 20 stone for the rest of your life.
And do it. So you willing to give 500,000 pound to lose five stone? Yeah, but without
knowing I don't the effort. I don't want the
someone telling you, this is crazy because you play so much effort into work,
you'll put all those hours into a working weight. No.
I'd love to be 20. Just saying. All right, so this is another one. Slimming world.
No, weight watch. I've done everything weight watchers. What do you mean?
You don't know anything? I had to be stomach out. 12 years. I had a castling sleeve. I'd be stomach
out. I would eat 30 stone and lost 10 stone. I'm stomach out. But I've stretched it back a
bit. I still can't eat massive. People think I can eat massive portions. I can't. I can eat and
then I eat again. Also, I do very little exercise, which is a problem. Now, okay, what about these
miracle yabs? Oh, that beat them all. Awesome pick. We go over, I'm still on it. I could eat chemists
300 pound of these jobs. I've been on eight months. I've gone in chemists. You've not lost any weight.
Out of 160 people, naturally. The only one who's not lost any weight. So I know, but it does stop
me putting weight on. So I'm still on it. But if I just work sets to the other day, I did lose
I lost three pound on them, whatever eight months. Yeah, but I put it back on. So it's not really.
I lost three pound for the rebound back home. So even on that, when did you get into the culinary
side of things? Because you love food to a degree of Michelin star dinners, restaurants,
everything, child. When I went to school, I love school dinners. If I were coming home,
come home for school dinners, why? Because chemists are fallies rusks.
14 year, yeah, packet for nine fallies rusks. Remember, cooking, paler.
I love food as a kid. I was a fat kid. The fat kid then. Unfortunate, that's unfortunate. When
you get 16, 17, you want a girlfriend? I never had a girlfriend. Well, aren't we going to get a
girlfriend? You're going to have to get paid going ships. I had to join Gateway Gym. All I had was
tuna fish, got myself down into quite a fit body. I've been quite honest with you. You wouldn't
really have that for a preacher. 12 and our stone, I was 12 when I met Monday, I weighed 12 and our
stone. When I got engaged to Monday, was engaged or married? One over, I don't know which one. I
weighed 17 stone and then obviously went up to 30 stone. I had Mr Macau, got down to 20,
raised him back a bit. I love going home and I like my own world and I don't need,
I don't need, you know, as long as I get it from people saying, have you watched
this and that and other on YouTube? No, I don't watch YouTube. Which to be fair, I think if you
did, you'd discover a whole new thing you love like. Personally. Do you know better than that?
I don't know. Also, I don't have to get, I like it on a big telly. I don't have to get, it's on
my computer. I like it on a big telly. I've got Sky, I've got Disney, I've got Paramount,
I watch all them and I like me scared. I sit there and I then go, oh, get my Christmas
chocolate. I've got everything all on hand in my little fridge and drawers.
And I'm happy in my own little world, just like I'm happy, you know, we're on about contentment.
I'm happy going to Tenerife. We love going to Tenerife, yet next Sunday, we're going to Dubai,
we're going to Maldives, we're going business cars. It's cost us £31,000 to one and two week
all that. I'm just saying that. We never spend that an all day. I like cruising and being on
the street, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm a little sick about it. We're going to be all right.
I'd rather, I've spent too many, if I could swap it tomorrow for a seven grand Tenerife, I would.
But I know where I'm going and where I'm happy. I'm happy in my own little world and
I don't need it.
Saying for a business owner, because to put that in a second, happy in your own little world
is not what you'd expect from a serial entrepreneur that's made millions in business.
Not.
And bought some incredible things.
I'm not allowed to end it.
But you said when I got in this van, and sometimes it's okay to have things that kind of fight each
other, because obviously you know them, the biggest firework dealer in the UK.
Have you ever had that desire to go and open stores in London or go and set up a business
in Belgium or go to America or do whatever?
I can't because I'm bothered. Right. It's another thing. I've got a friend who's got businesses
and is happy that they all run 80%. I don't want that. Like I can't have her.
Like I can't have her. When I was a shop, I was an amazing shop by the way.
As a shop selling milk, bed, everything has to be straight, everything has to be clean.
I was very good at being a shopkeeper.
I'm obsessed.
I mean, he added that just to that level, obsessed. We're good at it.
So doing fireworks, why are the biggest and best fireworks?
And I don't just say the biggest, the best.
Fireworks retailer in the UK.
We sell the best product. I know the fireworks. I know that we sell the best
fireworks. Correct price. Online, you have to be correct price. Even though people do not
clue up on price fireworks, we have to be competitive. We have to be correct price.
Then we have to give the best service. There's always problems.
There's always problems. If you said, well, look, I strive for 100%. Never going to happen.
If we get 99% and when the 1% goes wrong, do everything in our power to make that right as
well. We're bothered about it. I'm bothered. I'm bothered about being the best. I've always been.
So it's like we're bonkers. So bonkers, we're not the best. It's big companies out here. We're
bigger than us. I'm bothered about being good at it. I can actually say I'm bothered. I want to
be the best still. The fairest, the correctest. Do you know if someone wins or bonkers? Right.
Let's just take this as a little bit. Someone wins 20% past 11. Someone wins an instant prize,
20% past 11. So Mandi does all the payments for bonkers. So I'll be put on Mandi. Someone's just
won £500. Put that in the bank account. Now, we can do it. It'll go through tomorrow. But for
a little bit, I think we're paying another £50P, whatever, to do now. We do it now. It's done now.
People get the payment. Anyone who plays bonkers will know you get the payment
straight away. This also goes to fireworks, a business. I'm known in the fireworks industry.
I'm known in it. You send a bill that-
Pyrotechnics. That's what they call it.
Pyrotechnics on Pyrotechnics. You send a bill today. I'm known for this. You send a bill today.
Don't get paid next week. Get paid today. We're very bothered about it. You could say that's to
ask the players, but then to the customers as well, that we want to be good at whatever I do.
And if I'm not good, if somebody comes up, there's a better job than me at fireworks.
They deserve it. They deserve it because-
I'd actually let them have it now, if you know what I mean. Once I let them have it,
could it be like 10 years that I'll work more and harder to make sure we are there?
Don't get me wrong. I think of this modern world. My problem was, I will work all them hours,
whereas my son James will work out- Well, hang on. It's a bit like-
I used to have this sort of business card that I loved. And on this business card,
you know, when you pass it, oh, I ain't got time to see them. Because they're too busy fighting a war.
The war's been fought with bow and arrows, but the salesmen were trying to sell them a machine gun.
You should have listened. And I'd actually like to submit like me with James that
I'll do all the work. I'm too busy working. Not to listen. Hang on. We could put a system in place here.
What? It saves- You don't have to do 10 hours because it goes down to one hour.
Which is definitely something what you have to look at these days, maybe.
But my thing is I'll work harder than anybody else to get to here.
I don't know. What's the largest amount of fireworks you've ever sold or display you've done?
Well, we don't do displays. When I say we don't do displays, we still do a couple of years
because I like them. Not because we want to make money from them.
Right. But this year, we're not doing them. We're packing completely in. That's similar
because again, the modern world, we did a display for Christmas lights last year.
And one kid got some embers, Bernard Coe. The whole family now is claiming this, that and the other.
And it's not just a simple thing of saying, oh, this burn. They didn't come out of the house anymore.
Suffering. Scared. You just think people claim for anything and anything they can now.
People are not fair and decent. So we've got to pack it in. I know it's covered under insurance,
but I just don't want to get in. I don't need anything in my life anymore. I don't.
Really. Me personally. Don't like stress. No. So we don't want to do. So we're actually
going to pack in displays this year. Even the... In its heyday, where there's some mad ones.
No, we've never... We haven't got time for it, because we're so busy retailing them.
We've got time to go out at night. People want fireworks, displays around bonfire.
Because people may think to end up with this scale of cars that cost this much money,
you have to do a £200,000 display here or a £100,000 display here.
There's no big customer. Does that exist? There is no big customer. Do you mean?
New Year's Eve? There's no big customer. We haven't got a big customer.
Like London. No, we sell consumer fireworks, category three. London will be category four
to display fireworks. Predominantly bought from different companies, but Celtic fireworks,
for instance, the UK's, to the biggest supplier of cat four fireworks, is a cat four.
Often you don't buy a firework. You make a firework kind of thing by
mortitudes. They put a shell in it. They're finding them. They're finding candles. They're
doing them to music, all that sort of stuff. We sell fireworks where probably
someone spending up to £3,000. So our average customer spends £250. That's because the reason
it's that high is you go to our website and think, oh, I'm going to buy 50% of fireworks.
You're not buying fireworks from us. Why? Because unfortunately there's a £30 delivery
charge because it's exposed because of the end of the career. So we have a minimum order on wine
of £100. Then 100 to 300 is a, I think it's a £30 delivery, maybe 25 at 300 pounds plus
is free delivery. We subsidize that then. But there is a limit to what you can spend.
And some of these fireworks now are big and expensive. £400 for one firework.
Bees, 30 kilo. It's amazing. Last five minutes. Someone wants some bonfire. I also 20 minute
display. So let's just say they need four or five of these type of things. So couple of grand.
A pub or a club, let's just say, is doing a display. We'll probably spend £1,500 to £2,000
to get a good display. But customers up to £3,000. A pub, £3,000. You're rare. You become rare.
The cost of our spend is between three and 5,000. That's how we've got 20. That's the most.
So we've got 20 customers because you've got to be really into fireworks and it's almost
unnecessary to go to that value. You're just making it more wow. Remember, this is stuff
the self themselves. This is not Alton Tower as well, be all London, Iowa, it's 250 grand.
It's all done to me. So the three to five grand customer. I'll say we've got two of them.
5,000 to 10,000, which is someone's going to be really into the fireworks. 33 customers.
10,000 and another spends more than 10,000. What happened? Why are you? If you're on a
£10,000 budget, you get a professional third-man, you want to do a proper display.
So we don't have any big customers. There's no big customers.
So you always relied on volume and also selling from home?
What's the reaction?
Sell them to what?
Volume and selling from home. To be quick, to be on it, to be able to do the deliveries.
We're running from here, but I suppose ideally, we wouldn't be here, but this is limits.
Here, for instance, here, we can only store two tonne, net explosive content, fireworks,
which is about 20 tonne. So we have a limit here. So we only keep six of these. So something
what we might sell 300 of, there's only six here. It's all stored at Lincoln, which I've said is
that it won't cost us 70 grand a year for storage. One of my jobs is to see, and it's fetching
from there. That's what we do. Because we can't store it here. We just can't, we've
got the storage and not allowed more storage because you have to have distances. Everything else,
there's always problems with fireworks. What you're allowed, when you're not allowed,
nature of the product. There's going to be a shortage this year of fireworks, just tell you that.
Eight-year-old is in early. There's been an accident in China, 37 people killed in a fight
tray, stopped all production. We're going to have a rocket shortage for this year. Luckily,
we've got lots to stop and we won't be short-fired. Will fireworks exist forever?
I think if anything stops it, it'll be the environmental side of it because you just
set these things off, created smoke and then you left with a big cardboard box.
They've got one use. That's the weird thing, they've got one use.
Or like the animal brigade and...
That as well, but I don't think that'll stop the fireworks. That'll just be people moaning
as I had to load that Lamborghini onto a car trailer the other day to go to Lamborghini.
So he came to pick up half a seven and then revvr anything. Just drove off the neighbors,
got it out to window. I say, what are you doing? Make it all this noise. People will always moan.
People will moan. People will moan about fireworks. It annoys me a little bit because
I completely get it. Why would you want suddenly... Now you're sat there boom, boom, boom.
You know, fireworks tell people, if you're having a firework display, tell your neighbors.
Tell your neighbors you're having a firework display so they know it's happening.
They feel as if they're almost invited. I don't set fireworks off here. I don't set fireworks on my house.
The years. What new years are you?
You always talked this whole podcast about breaking money down into months or weeks.
Yet you've got a business there that probably made most of its money
towards October, November, December. Was that always really hard when you're in the
heyday of that to modulate the rest of the year? Absolutely. It's only
this last number of years, let's say. Things like paying your mortgage. Well, I've no longer
got the mortgage. It was a £1,500 mortgage. So you go back only...
I certainly said less than 10 years ago. 10 years ago, the number of... See this watch?
What we're in now? I won't tell this watch on. Why have I to sell it? I need money
because I've got to buy fireworks and work has to come first.
That's another little thing we're not poor. It's all right wanting these fancy cars, whatever.
I've always put work first. Work has to come first. You don't have no fancy cars or fancy watches
if you're borrowing money for your business. Now get rid of these things. The number of times I've
had a bit of gold. I've had to sell it. I've had to sell this. I've had to sell that because I needed
the money. It's happened all the time. It's only lately. It's last. I'll say paint mortgage or
things and not having any car finance. You could survive. Well, you sort of buy the cars.
Yeah, okay. I'll just say that. We're what they would call a cash-rich company. We're a cash-rich
business. We don't borrow money. We don't owe money. If anyone wants to buy a Ferrari next week,
you can for bonkers. We don't have to start thinking, oh, where we're going to get money from.
It's about a particular league watch on the last week. £65,000, £70,000 for bonkers.
Can we do it? We can do it. That is an unbelievable phenomenon. I've even said to I did, you don't
realise how lucky you are to have that. You can buy, stop. Most businesses run on a...
They have the invoices and they've got to sell the stopped pay the invoices. We don't have that.
Fireworks. All my fireworks, I've probably got one and a half to 2000000 pounds of fireworks.
They're all paid for. I don't owe anyone that. If we sell a packet, so do I have people... I've had
actually finished hell of it. You know, we talk about negative comms. I don't get many, but someone
says, when you go bust or something, impossible. It's impossible for me to go bust. I can't go
bust. If I sell a packet of sparkles this year, I can manage. I don't owe anyone fireworks.
How many staff have you got now? I don't know.
All-time staff, we have eight. Oh, then there's me and my kids.
Which is still a big deal to cover every month.
Do you know you say that, Ben? The size of the business. Eight staff doing a...
Over £15 million a year turnover. Very good. Eight staff. Very good.
Which is... Did you learn who taught you turnover vanity, profit, sanity?
No one taught me that. I thought he said I was daft. Do you know how I said about gambling?
Losing money. But I need to know, got this money for that money.
That's just... That's the thing that's life. Trying to work out what money you've got.
As a kid working out, you've got this. I used to, you know, love Guy Fawke and Pennyford Guy.
And you got, right, I've got this to buy that and whatever.
I know it sounds big-headed, but I find business very easy.
But it's so easy. It is a business. This is what it costs.
Don't miss out the expenses that you've got a box. You've got a roller-seller tape.
You've got that. You've got this. James was actually doing...
We don't have to send smoke grenades at that little 1.4S.
So we don't have to send them through a specialised career oils delivery.
So James did 9.95 delivery. We cost us £12 to send them. I said,
right, she goes, okay, can you subsidise the two-pounds? No, it doesn't cost £12.
Jason's got a packet. We've got that. We've got a sellotape. box.
The box where you'd use his pound. I said he cost us £18 to send them out.
And someone could buy three smoke grenades. We're £18. It doesn't work.
You know, it's quite... It's a basic simple maths. It is a product.
People will fall for this, but I used to say to someone,
sunglasses. I'm going to start selling sunglasses. I always use this one because I use it.
They cost a pound and we sell them for £10. So when he asked a question,
we're back with the cost of pounds, send for 10. Is that a good business?
And people always answer, it's a brilliant business.
I only sell one pair of sunglasses a day. I've got to pay for enough.
How's that a business? Because it's a not a crotious business.
But you initially think, oh yeah, you're buying for a pound, so it's just a billion.
Oh, you've not asked me how many we're selling, what those overheads are,
what those advertising is, what electric bills are, what this is, vans. We have five vans,
which I'll be honest with you, it's a bit of a vanity for me. You know, I like my vans,
just like I like cars. Love vans, by the way. In fact, we've got two brand spanking new crafters,
which are beat up in March. I've nowhere to put them, so they're actually where we store
us fireworks. It's out there for six months. They're not doing any mileage. They're all brand new,
just out there. Four wheel drive ones as well. What is the most important decision you've ever
made in your life? Important. That without maybe you wouldn't have stayed on such a solid path.
It's not an important decision. It's something that I thought was in love.
So I got married. I thought I was in love after I knew a woman for
83 years. I thought I was in love. I thought that's what love was. But then years later,
you realize what love is. It's not that passion. It's not only an old fan CEO. It's having someone who
is there for you. Basically, I don't sound like that. Mandy wants me to be happy. Whatever it
takes for me to be happy, she wants me to be happy. So if I said I want to go to Las Vegas
she didn't want me to go but she wants me to be happy. So she says, I want you to go. My job,
I want her to be happy. I know she didn't want me to go. So I want to make her happy.
So we have to go to some compromise. Do we go to another? And that's life, working that one out.
The priorities to make me happy, my priorities to make her happy. And everything else is
bonus. What is your next bonus? What's one thing that you still want to accomplish?
I ain't saying it because I'm not positive. I don't get it. I'm really not. But if you said to me,
again, it comes from money. It's a 911, isn't it? It's a 911.
A 911. What would that do for you? Is it a sense of validation that even with everything else,
you can go out and get the hypercar? The validation. I'm way past validation. I mean,
way past it. Buying a, you know, again, it's not that long ago since I bought a 911 Turbo,
not even an S. What, we're under a grand on thinking, Jesus Christ, is that mine?
Like when I come home and there's a Lamborghini Ferrari GT2 RS, even after GT there now.
Way, way, way beyond my dreams already.
And you're saying, why do you want a 911, a 2?
Don't want it enough to give up. You know, as much as I say, again, right, there's another thing
down here is I'm 60 years old, always been overweight. So that was my target. I can get to
60. That's my target. I've hit my target. This is a bonus now, not because some people say it's
a bonus because they've had cancer and the beta. I've lived my fat life. I've gone to 60.
A week before 60, I thought, you know, don't you have a jumping heart attack this week?
I've gone to 60. I've now googled what obesity knocks off your life. It knocks 90 years off
your life. And I thought I would live to 84. So I've now decided I'm going to live to 74.
That's my new target, 74. It's been wonderful to get there. Again, if you talk about what is
your life, I worry about dying and leaving Monday. So now she'll be without me.
I think we never think about Monday diapers. That's another thing. She does exercise, keeps fit.
She's healthy. She does all these things. So, but that's another thing. You just got to presume
that. Mandy's mum, for instance, was 48. She's an healthy woman. Oh, 49. That's okay, I'm 100%.
She got an headache six months later. Well, no, she lived 12 months. We're brain-tooled.
Dead. 49 years old. Dead. That could happen to Monday night. We don't know these things.
I don't know how to cope. I know it sounds tough. I would like to die at the center,
don't I? But as a joke wise, I've taken as a joke, right? I love saying this to people.
When we lost a dog last time, getting other dogs away, you feel as though you're cheating on your
last dog. But then I'll take pressure off. And because of that, I always say to people,
it's a bit of a joke. If Mandy dies, I have every chance I'm going to be taking my new
fiance to her funeral. And that's what I said. You know, I can't be able to. No,
look after her. I can't. And she'll have to say, but I said, yeah, it's true, don't you?
And it's only, yeah. And I always said to people.
So, finish me off. Why do you want that 918 so much?
I don't. I don't want it that much.
Well, you get it.
Probably not. Because there's too much money now. And the only way I could have it is borrowing money.
Because, you know, let's say there's one next week, it's one and a half million pound.
And they're more than that now. But I did think about buying one, not long back, one and a half million.
I would have to borrow 1000000 pounds. I love knowing anyway.
So, does it matter that, oh, it goes up in value? What am I going to do? What was the plan?
Go up in value to sell it at some point? What are you going to do?
I'll do it anyway. And the justification when, as I've already said earlier,
that my kids have got a mortgage that Jason wants to buy now, it would be wrong.
It's almost wrong now that I have these things.
Then again, let me put this as it was, as he's picking a new car on Friday.
I own Electric, owned at I5N, the company car, makes the sounds of a car supposedly.
And it's got a 640bhp. And it can take you to Donington, right there. I've been an interesting car.
Now, it's a question like that. Again, maybe I shouldn't say this on here,
because we're at Dr. Sometimes, I say sometimes, it's alright seeing this down the other,
but I've always suffered. I've always suffered from anxiety and depression.
Which is not what you'd expect from a character like that.
No, no, as accurate it comes. Man, you'll know when it's here. Man, you'll know it's here.
Till you're alright. Because I can't control it.
I don't like opening mail for 30 years. What is he? What do they want? I don't like
I don't like lying. So this is another thing. I don't like that we have to do things.
If I'm not hurting anybody, I think let me get on with whatever I'm doing.
But then there'll be some, you can't do that. Lincoln, every three months we've got a set of steps.
We've got to fill in a form now to say they've been oiled and checked. I think
set of steps, you know, or bloody rules and whatever. We're all a bunch of pans, isn't it?
Oh, everything. But go back to the anxiety and depression. So I want for nothing.
nothing. He's only saying, I don't want it. for it.
You know, I'm a Lamborghini. Go back to this. So I want for nothing. So why sometimes you're
opening morning and the blinkers just go like this. And I'll give you an example that only,
I don't know. Football fan, I started watching match of day.
That next morning, so I've watched match of day that next morning,
blinkers have come on. What an, what have I been watching? 11 men kicking a ball against 11 men.
The head's like, it's just pointless. It's no point to whatsoever. It's like, stupid,
not kicking a ball. There's all these people watching it. And I'm like, it's pointless.
But everything I can, everything in my life becomes pointless. Cause they're pointless.
You see that nice green on holiday? I've all just looked, you know, everything becomes pointless.
Is that your dad creeping through? No, no. Nobody I don't let my dad suffer. My mother always was a,
my mother died last year. I had messages from people. Always sorry to hear about your mother.
Um, no grief whatsoever. None. Not an ounce of grief. She was, you shouldn't say this about your
mother, but no love for her at all. Comes to Mother's Day. Um, why? You know, like on Mother's Day,
I can't send her a Mother's Day card. They always say nice things. My mother never said,
never said a nice word to me. Why? Your fat, your bold, do not, do not dare pick us up in that
Rolls Royce. Anybody sees us in that. Just certain powers. Um, just a bitter, bitter woman. That's
why I must have taken a lot to repress. I think that's one of the reasons I wanted to prove.
So many people would struggle and get sucked into that. Cause they say,
if when you're around a certain mindset, you become that way. Yeah. You're almost a complete
opposite. That can be horrible. Sometimes I see my mother in me being, what, why? You know,
it's horrible. Do I see that way? Do you know something, Ben? I've no idea. But because
my mum and dad will work as well. So that's, they get probably what I would brought up to me,
that the work. And I don't know this because that, the retired, very young as well. My dad had a,
that's, I had to the shop. My dad had an art bypass, uh, 50 years old. So they retired,
he retired at 50, which was weird. Cause I thought, what they're going to be, you know,
what are they going to do? They've always, they always work, but, but then they had a caravan.
And I think they enjoyed going there. Um,
Naomi mother never said a nice word to me. Never said enough. Um,
there was a fight. Um, love me dad, by the way, he had great. He's got, he's unbelievably tight.
I mean, levels that you've never, you know, levels that you can't even
comprehend. Um, you know, the care that comes and this is like now.
And before they come, you remove toilet flush or the car flush toilet,
because you don't want to waste water. Um, you know, you don't want to flush that toilet. So
it's probably had two shits in it because you don't want to waste water. Is the ones by Keckel,
for instance, and, um, build it with water, have a cup of, a cup of coffee,
all that watering for, come now there's no water because you don't bring on.
You only baths. Well, you don't once a week at best. Um, is, is level of tightness is,
which is probably why I'm quite the opposite. But like even last week when we were in
Dinnerton, there's a car shop and he's going to get a card. I'm not going there. They're
a lot cheaper than that road. They need some business. They need the help local business,
give them some trade, give them a bang, I'll buy a £2.50 card. I'm not paying that.
Um, I said, you know, considering you were a local business yourself,
and now he comes and is unbelievable. I mean, his levels of tightness are
levels beyond what? Who did you see as an inspiration growing up to know that you could
be different? No, I've been made a book. How did your eyes get open? Was it just the luck of the
catching checks and realizing that there was another way of doing things? From school,
from school, I'm a kid. I like money. Money got me to that point, um, to buy food. Um,
let me go to a fairground and have a knock down on a ride. Um, I always liked money.
Unfortunately, I spent the money. It was something that I'd give me money.
You give me a million pounds tomorrow. I'm buying a 9.8. Well, yeah, I probably would buy mine.
Providing everybody else is okay. Good act. Because there's also a thing anybody else that
don't first, but that would be, um, a light spirit. I'm not, not a saver. I'll do this,
do that. No, I'm not, I don't, don't worry about that saving me. Um,
I've never worried about business. It's very easy. I don't know what you mean. It's very easy to put
off a working week into practice and it's very lucky to have some money to back that up. Whether
you're doing or you're opening up a piece of stone next week, right, that's what I want to do. You
put the, the working week into that. It might not earn what I earn now, but I'll try and make it the
best I can of that job and it'll earn whatever it earns. And that's how you're going to earn money
and sir. Um, I buy and sir. Also, I've got two physical shop. What?
They're not good. They're not. Um, if you said to me now, what business would do,
whatever that business would be, it was something online, serving to people online where it'd be
definitely online business. I'm dreaming of having a physical shop. That wouldn't happen,
whether that be even if, you know, my mate Thomas is like, tell the lobsters and things
from a fish stand. But no way. I'd have that you're limited to what that customer base.
But people said to me now, oh, it'd be fantastic if you had a firework shop in Bristol. So I've
got one. I didn't know that. Yeah. So I caught in tonight. I'm going to live everywhere.
Nigel, your story is unlike many others I've ever come across and how you've got to where you are.
Through so many turns in the road and all sorts of ups and downs left, right and senders
is amazing. You did it through sheer determination, gutless and growth. Well done. And thank you for
coming on road to success. Thank you very much, Ben, for having me. Much appreciated.
About this episode
Nigel Turver’s story swings from supercar flipping to business “bonkers” chaos, with Porsche allocation rules driving a collector’s buy/sell “game.” He describes buying a GT3 RS for £205,000 and selling for £410,000—claims that helped pay off his mortgage—while also saying he’s “blacklisted at Porsche.” The conversation widens into gambling addiction, replacing roulette with poker, and the money math behind running a high-turnover retail operation.
640bhp
700 brake horsepower
air suspension
allocation system
banned for going over 100
blacklisted at Porsche
boot
car finance
Croft
depreciates so little
AMC Javelin
Audi R8
BMW M5
Buick Grand National
Ferrari 458
Ferrari F355
Ferrari F80
Ferrari F8 Tributo
Ford Capri
Ford Mustang
Honda Civic
Lamborghini Urus
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Opel Astra
Porsche 911
Porsche 918 Spyder
Porsche Cayenne
Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Toyota Corolla
Vauxhall Astra
Volkswagen Crafter
Volkswagen Golf
Original notes
Check out Tweak: https://www.tweakuk.com/
From running a tiny corner shop to building a dream car collection filled with Ferraris, Porsches and Rolls-Royces, Nigel Turver's story is unlike anything you’ve heard before.
In this episode of Road To Success, Nigel opens up about his obsession with making money, his battle with gambling addiction, the life-changing business decisions that transformed his future, and the emotional family journey that nearly broke him.
From buying his dream cars and paying off his mortgage early, to the heartbreaking struggle of watching his son battle addiction, this conversation is packed with lessons on business, money, family, risk, success and what really matters in life.
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