The boy wonder who’s big business now

Dec 3 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A YOUNG entrepreneur who started a business while still at school is on course to turnover £5m a year by 2010.

Dan Foskett, now 20, started Connection Fitness in 2005 to sell sports equipment online. The company has just moved to new premises with bigger offices and a showroom at George Reynold’s Industrial Estate in Shildon.

Employing seven staff, Mr Foskett plans to create more jobs in the New Year when the health and fitness sector is traditionally busy.

He has shrugged off the effects of the credit crunch by expanding without having to go cap in hand to the banks for finance. “In terms of getting finance and loans, that’s no different for me because when I was starting at 16, 17, I couldn’t get finance, the banks wouldn’t touch me because of my age,” he said.

His first enterprise was selling computer parts via eBay. He set up his own website when he was 16 and become addicted. “I got my first web sale, it came through within hours of the online adverts going live and after that I was hooked and never wanted to do anything else,” said Mr Foskett. “I did OK at school but dropped out of sixth form to concentrate on the business as I was trying to juggle both in the early days, and it had to be one or the other.”

He says he did not receive any particular encouragement to be enterprising when he was at school. “It has been a case of learning from my mistakes and also from other business people,” Mr Foskett said.

The showroom was opened to the public on Saturday to demonstrate the equipment. Until moving, the business only sold online.