Alex Turner meets TONY EVANS, founder of Anthony Donald Evans

IT IS often said that entrepreneurial spirit cannot be taught – which is just as well for Tony Evans, who readily admits that “education wasn’t for me”.

The 26-year-old is the founder and managing director of price comparison website seeus2save.com, one of several brands operating under Anthony Donald Evans which also includes Accident Assistance and Clear Bike Insurance.

Turnover is forecast to be “about £10m-£15m” up from £5m this year although Evans says he does not have a plan for future growth.

That is, perhaps, because of his opportunistic nature which has seen him grasp chances that he has spotted.

“I left school at 15 when I got expelled,” he said, adding his GCSEs were “nothing worth noting” from Knowsley Hey in Huyton.

“I was only interested in PE, history and IT – but I have always been interested in business and making money.

“I was a paperboy when I was nine and I was knocking on the doors in between the houses I was delivering to and doing deals, buying cheaper from the newsagents and direct from the Echo. I was making £50 a week when I was 11.”

His aptitude for direct sales continued after he left school, selling products from football memorabilia to televisions.

“I have always been ambitious,” said Evans. “When the LCD market was ticking in, I was selling bits and bobs on eBay, and I got into televisions.

“I designed my own television, which was branded Kabooch, I imported about 50, sold them and made a bit of money on them. I ordered some more but then they started going missing at the docks and my man in China disappeared. I was down to my last £1,500.”

He pressed ahead looking for the next opening. This led to him referring accident claims to a solicitor, an embryonic opportunity which was the start of the call centre business he runs today.

He said: “When a personal injury product came up, I got a small team in the town centre who were commission-based only.

“I opened a 10-seat call centre in the North Mersey Park, where we took one room.

“We made lots and lots of mistakes and the reality was we were going out of business.

“I had the wrong person in charge – you have to delegate to people you can trust – so I ran it myself.

“We took on bigger space and more people. I am a gambling type of person, but it was serious backs-against-the-wall time.”

After the fire-fighting had subsided, Evans employed someone with experience to run the operation while he took a step back to focus on the business. “We diversified into different products and we are looking at opening our own insurance broker,” he said.

“Our main brand is the comparison site, seeus2save.com. We are in a sector where the four major players spend £120m a year on marketing.

“By being a smaller company we can give a personal touch and give a better service than these bigger organisations.”

The call centre sector often has a poor reputation with consumers and Evans admits to some failings in the past.

“Operationally, we have had system issues,” he said. “We now TPS [Telephone Preference Service – an official central opt-out register] on a monthly basis.

“We have had to make some improvements, but we are pretty confident we have got that sorted out now.”

The company is now authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), an important approval which helps its market position.

Evans said: “We are all responsible for making sure we are compliant but it has been a learning curve.

“It’s difficult to adapt sometimes but it’s something we have got to do and we are pleased to be recognised by the FSA. It brings confidence to the consumer.” Staff retention – another perceived failing of the sector – is, according to Evans, “fantastic” with 94% of its staff staying for longer than six months.

The company is currently working towards the Investors In People award.

But ultimately, despite several references to his “strong team”, Anthony Donald Evans Limited is clearly a company that is inseparable from its founder.

“My drive is one of my assets, my determination to succeed,” he added.

“We are determined and I don’t give in. If someone else can do it then so can I.”