I worked at a market stall before becoming a multi-millionaire – I still live off £20-a-day pocket money
A MILLIONAIRE who worked on a market stall before finding huge success has revealed he still lives off £20-a-day pocket money.
Dad-of-two Steve Smith, 60, from Birmingham, has to go to his wife Tracy, 59, for his daily funds because he can’t be trusted not to spend too much.
The founder of Poundland told the Sun Online he gets £20-a-day to spend, and his wife refuses to adjust for inflation.
He added: “Tracy gives me £20 a day to spend. I have asked for an increase but she says no.
“I think I’ll have to go on strike to get a pay rise.”
Steve, who’s worth £50million after creating the first pound store in 1990, added that he still shops at Aldi.
And his wife’s constantly frustrated when he won’t let her pay 10p for a plastic bag.
He said: “My granddad used to say if you don’t work you don’t eat so I still work.
“We still try and save money like anyone else. When we go to a hotel we always come back with the free shampoos and soaps.”
Steve was raised on a Bilston Market stall in Wolverhampton, where he first discovered Britain’s obsession with a bargain while working alongside his Dad Keith.
Aged 27 he took a £50,000 loan from his businessman dad Keith to set up the first Poundland store in Burton-on-Trent.
The business boomed, making £13,000 in its first day.
Steve said: “No one believed in the idea. I had to convince landlords to lease us a space. Everyone said ‘how can you find enough products, it’ll never work’. It did work.”
The first shop, which opened on December 13, 1990, sold 648 different products including toiletries and confectionery.
Steve added: “It’s amazing what you can get for a pound.”
Tracy ran HR and payroll and the couple’s two children Joe, 24, and Ashley, 28, still work for the company.
The business is now worth £5billion, but the family sold it for £50million in 2000.
Steve said his wife claims he has spent his half of their fortune already.
He gave his parents £25million when he sold the company.
Steve said his parents couldn’t afford a babysitter, so they’d put him under the market stall table as a baby.
He said: “I learnt everything from my parents. They used to sell pens, 144 in a box, around the factories.
“They’d go door to door selling. I’ve gone from a market stall to a global businessman and absolutely loved the journey.”
While on the market stall the family sold items in cardboard boxes for 10p, and found they made more money on those boxes than anything else.
He added: “That’s what sparked the idea for the pound store. No one else was doing it at the time. We were the first. People just love a bargain.”
Steve and his dad Keith founded the business in 1990.
The pound coin, first created in 1983 to replace the discontinued £1 bank note, inspired an ambitious idea.
But it was difficult to convince landlords that selling only items for a pound was going to make money.
Steve’s dad Keith had sold up his successful cash and carry business Hooty’s and moved to Majorca in 1989.
Steve added: “I said ‘dad I want to be in retail’. He said remember that cardboard box.
“Let’s sell things for a pound. In April 1990 I came back to the UK from Majorca, where my Dad had retired, with a £50k loan.
“We started in a little office in Sedgley with a fax machine. I had to convince landlords to lease us a space.
“I had an artist do a sketch of what the shop would look like. Everyone said how can you find enough products. It’ll never work.
“We’ve had golf clubs for a pound. It’s amazing what you can get for a pound. Toiletries and confectionery. It was very difficult. We had no buying power.
“How the customers reacted was amazing.”
Steve opened a second store in Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, which was his “big break”.
“From there we were able to say ‘if we’re good enough for Meadowhall, we’re good enough for you’,” he added.
“We aimed to make £1m, then £10m, then £100m then £10bn. It’s now worth over £5bn.
“And 90 per cent of the population of the UK has been in or shopped at a Poundland store. We’ve had many celebrities. Everyone loves the concept of a bargain. They’re smart shoppers.”