LIVING on the streets, learning to fend for himself, has been the inspiration for businessman Steve Allan pictured above to succeed.
Aged 14 he left home as a result of domestic issues and a family divorce but was determined to complete his education in order to create a brighter future for himself.
Now he has launched a new scheme aiming to nurture a new generation of business leaders.
“I lived in a bus at the side of the road when I was 14,” says Steve. “I lived in squats and on park benches when I was 16 and found myself unable to get any state help unless I left school and sought employment instead of education.”
Wanting to finish his GCSEs and then A-levels to give him the opportunity for a better future, he had to find solutions and be resourceful to survive. He has worked in the office furniture sector since the 1990s and opened business furniture and interior company Verve Workspace in 2004. The company, based at Milton Malsor, has since delivered thousands of projects and provided more than one million furniture components to clients.
“I feel my own experience of going from living on the streets at 16 to becoming a successful entrepreneur enables me to provide young people with a valuable and perhaps unusual perspective,” says Steve right. “My experience taught me things I would have never learned otherwise.”
As a result of his experience more than 30 years ago, he has launched the School of Earning to help young people in Northamptonshire to begin their own successful careers. Initially, the School of Earning will work with young people from across Northamptonshire aged between 16 and 25. The in-person courses, which are free, will last for six weeks and will take place for two hours on Saturday mornings.
“It is not just focusing on making money,” says Steve. “It is about equilibrium and balance. It is about ‘Earn skills. Earn respect. Earn more than a living’.
“I want to help young people to forge a mindset that makes them resilient and resourceful because we need to build leaders with strength, compassion and integrity who focus on positivity and understand what it takes to run a successful business.”
Verve Workspace opened in a single small office room in Northampton in 2004. As the business grew, it opened a London office in Royal Arsenal, Woolwich and shared office space in Scotland.
In 2010, the company acquired a plot of land in Northamptonshire to build a purpose-built office and working showroom in Northamptonshire. “It was not very large but it was a cool space and very efficient too,” Steve recalls. “We felt that as a company that are experts in creating spaces that really work. We wanted to show what we could do when space was tight.”
A red telephone box became a doorway, maps made up the flooring and top hats were transformed as lights. The business growth continued and in 2020 Verve purchased a new building at Milton Malsor just outside Northampton, opening for business there a year later.
“We have made it a brilliant place to work, practising what we preach,” says Steve. “And because of the timing in the world, we have made it reflect the way companies are working more and more – flexibly, and with collaboration and private spaces.”
Steve is already considering applications from would-be entrepreneurs eager to take advantage of the course, which will start in January. He will send out questionnaires to applicant he considers suitable for the course before selecting the students to whom to offer places.
“My plan is to run the courses for young people in Northamptonshire totally for free,” he says. “It is my way of doing something meaningful for my community.”
Interested? Find out more and send your application to . Steve is also developing in-depth and niche training courses for all age groups, which will be chargeable.
“Any young people who would benefit from real world advice from a proven entrepreneur should get in touch to express their interest,” he says. “The course will focus on setting yourself apart from the crowd, deciding on what you want from life and ultimately defining for yourself early on what the meaning and responsibilities of success are.”
