A youngster dropped out of school with no GCSEs to become Britain’s youngest shopkeeper – aged just 16.
Finley Hutchings opened Hutchings Emporium after deciding to go full time with his business.
He says opening the shop meant leaving school with no GCSEs – but has ‘no regrets’ about dropping out.
Finley says ”I can read, write and count money which is all I need really”.
Hutchings Emporium in Tewkesbury, Glos., sells a range of items from antiques, tools, clothes and fishing equipment.
The teenager began selling “anything he could get his hands on” on Facebook marketplace during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
He then returned to school and continued to run his business after classes.
Butt Finley says he ‘lost interest’ in school dropped out.
He said: “When I ended up having to go back to school I didn’t see much point in it anymore.
”I knew that eventually I’d go back to what I was doing, working for myself, so I didn’t see the point in doing school.
“I never really enjoyed school much anyway, my head just wasn’t in the game for school and I never really had a drive to go into higher education.
“For a while I was still going to school and running the business after school in the evening, just making it work around school.
”Then this year I just thought I’d go for it.
“The last few years it’s really come together and I knew what I wanted to do instead.
”So I left school and I’ve never looked back – I can read, write and count money which is all I need really.”
Due to his young age, Finley had to enlist the help of his dad, Mark, to set up the business by having the lease in his own name until Finley turns 18.
Finley has helped his dad with his own business over the years also, assisting his dad at auctions, and Finley says his dad fully supports his decision to leave school.
Mark said: “Some kids are naturally really into school, but he never has been. He’s always wanted to do his own thing so it was a no brainer really.
“I’m very proud of him, it takes a lot of courage for someone of any age to take on and do something like this. He works seven days a week but he’s sticking to it and doing really well.”
Finley added: “We’ve been astronomically busy so far to be fair, it’s been nuts. I’d like to thank the local people of Tewkesbury who have been so supportive coming to visit and sharing posts.
“I’m going to keep moving forward with the shop, push it and progress it. It’s doing really well so far and I’m excited to see how it goes.”
