Teenagers who launched clothing range seeking investment to take business to next level

Ashley Hodgetts and Liam Smith, both 15 and from Cannock, started their clothing business, Mykro Clothing, after initially drawing up plans seven months ago.

The two friends, who attend Staffordshire University Academy in Hednesford, drew up designs on paper before transferring them onto their computers. They then began contacting suppliers all over the world in order to make it a tangible product.

The name of the business is ‘Mykro Clothing’, and they have two designs for their tracksuits, a blue colour and black colour.

After contacting suppliers worldwide, the two said they managed to find one abroad that was good for them financially while maintaining high quality, and now they have their sample products.

However, despite setting up their own website and pre-orders being taken, the pair are seeking investment from either a community funding project, or crowd funding, in order to make a bulk order to fulfil requests.

Liam’s mother, Kelly, said: “We are so proud of the two boys, who have put a lot of hard work and their savings into creating their very own clothing brand.

“They have worked so hard to first create the designs and then actually contacting suppliers all over the world, and to now have their own sample tracksuits.

“They even designed their own website and created it, so they have put their all into it, but now they are ready to take pre-orders, they need additional funding of £2,000 to make the minimum bulk order of products.

“We have called around everywhere to see if there is any kind of support for teenagers and their businesses like the Prince’s Trust, but that is only for 16-year-olds and above, and there is no level of support anywhere for under 16’s, and so it is so disappointing and disheartening.

“They have paid for everything themselves up to now and done everything from scratch, and now they require support but it just isn’t there. What is especially sad is that teenagers often get a bad reputation for wasting time or being anti-social, and yet we have two boys here who are trying to start a business and do the right thing with their lives, but they do not have the support required.”

The two teens require funding of £2,000 in order to be able to make a minimum bulk order with their supplier.

Their crowd funding link can be found here: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/no-support-4-our-young-entrepreneurs-can-u-help

They have started taking pre-orders on their website, but have added a disclaimer that orders will be delayed as they deal with the issue of purchasing their stock.

Anyone interested in supporting them, can visit their website mykroclothing.com.