I launched my business from my family’s kitchen and now I’m worth £190m – but I still drive my old car
TWO brothers who launched their business from their family’s kitchen are now worth £190million each.
Tom Beahon, 33, and Phil, 30, started their company from humble beginnings in Liverpool seven years ago.
They founded Castore in 2015 after becoming frustrated at the lack of high-quality men’s sportswear in the market.
And the pair have never looked back, with their start-up business now valued at a whopping £750 million.
They’ve now gone from signing their first factory deal to signing huge kit deals with Premiership football teams, the Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The booming company, which counts Andy Murray among its investors, is still growing with sales forecast to jump 30% to £200million this year.
But despite Castore’s huge success over the past years, Tom is staying humble and still drives his old car.
Tom told the Mirror: “I am still the proud owner of a white VW Polo that must be seven, eight years old.
“I still drive that. I’ve not been on holiday for a while.
“Neither my brother nor I are massively materialistic people.
“We get into the office at 5.30 in the morning and don’t leave until after eight, nine in the evening, so there isn’t a lot of time to buy stuff.
“However, it does allow you look after the people that you care about, your family.
“Our mum and dad remortgaged their house when we started the company and that was a big, big deal.
“So we bought them a nice house in a nice area 18 months ago, so I guess it came full circle.”
England’s men and women cricketers wear Castore’s winged logo, as do Formula 1 teams Red Bull and McLaren, Premiership rugby side Saracens and a growing roster of football clubs, including Rangers, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
More recently the brand has added Sevilla in Spain, Bayer Leverkusen in Germany and Dutch outfit Feyenoord.
It is aiming to partner with at least one club in each major European league and has already signed its first, yet-to-be-announced international side.
While being mainly online, it has also opened a string of shops.
It aims to have 20 UK stores by the summer, with another 15 targeted in the next 12 months.
Tom explains: “I have always believed that people enjoy the social aspect of shopping, it’s something a lot want to do on a Saturday.
“People can touch and feel and try on the products, and that’s something you can’t replicate online.”
And although their rags to riches story is already a success, Tom has his sights set on even bigger targets.
The entrepreneur says that he wants Castore to be the world’s “number one premium sportswear brand”, taking on the likes of Adidas and Nike.
The brothers jointly control just over half of the company, giving them a theoretical paper worth of £382million, or £191million each.
And the pair have already turned down a number of takeover offers, such is the success of their brand.