Adam Thornhill, a 27-year-old from Anfield, has built a seven-figure business portfolio after starting out selling sweets in the school playground, with his companies on track to turn over more than £2m this year. He is now urging schools to teach entrepreneurship amid the UK’s youth unemployment crisis.
From playground sweets to first business
Thornhill was inspired to become an entrepreneur in Year 9 after moving in with his uncle when his single mum became unwell. He began selling sweets in the playground and bought second-hand cars for his uncle to sell on his behalf, before leaving school at 15 without passing his GCSEs.
By age 17, he had saved £20,000 through side hustles and working as a gas engineering apprentice, using the money to launch his first business, a taxi leasing firm. In 2021, he launched a travel agency, and two years later – after a brief period living in the Netherlands – he moved to Dubai, where he founded a consultancy helping expats establish businesses in the UAE, as well as a property investment firm.
Overcoming personal challenges
Thornhill, whose dad was in jail for most of his teenage years and recently received a new sentence of 15 years, says he “cannot believe” how “far (he) has come”. He grew up with his mum until Year 9 when she became unwell, briefly living with his nan until she also fell ill. Thornhill then moved in with his uncle, his dad's twin, who was a motor trader and also ran a fireplace business, exposing him to “a different way of earning a living”.
He said: “I think that put me on the path I went down – I started selling confectionery on the school playground and I’d go to car auctions with my uncle and learn from him. I had a job cleaning a marble yard as well.”
Building a business empire
Determined to “get ahead” and earn his own money, Thornhill left school at 15 to start a gas engineering apprenticeship earning £40 a day. By age 17, he had saved around £20,000 through his apprenticeship, reselling cars and chimney sweeping, and was renting his own flat above a hairdresser’s for £360 a month.
He invested his savings in launching his first business, taxi leasing firm AJT Hire, at age 17. Several insurers initially turned him down, struggling to believe that a teenager could own a business. He said: “They all thought I was a joke, I got laughed at and they didn’t think it was a real phone call. I think the biggest lesson was resilience and patience.”
Call for practical education
Thornhill believes schools should teach more “real-life lessons”, including contracts, insurance and money management, to help address the UK’s NEET crisis, with almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training. An estimated 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were NEET between April and June this year, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures.
Despite leaving school early himself, Thornhill stressed he would not encourage other pupils to follow his example. He said: “There should be more practical lessons being taught in schools like contracts, insurance and employment rights. Kids should be learning about how to manage their money.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Every young person should be able to see a route to success, whatever their talents, ambitions or background. That’s why we are taking swift action to reduce the unacceptably high number of young people who are not earning or learning. We’re creating high-quality technical and vocational education options to sit alongside academic skills, and we’ve launched a new National Mission on Work Experience to help boost opportunities for young people outside the classroom. We’ll work with local authorities, schools and employers to ensure more young people leave education with the skills, confidence and opportunities they need to thrive in today’s economy and the careers of the future.”
Looking ahead, Thornhill said that over the next five years, he would like to “step back” from his businesses, focus on “living life more” and potentially start a family. He said: “In my day-to-day life, I’m just happy. I’m grateful for where I am, and I’ll be honest, if you told me 15 years ago this is where I’d be, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
