TWO bothers have told how they dropped out of uni and worked at a fish and chip shop – and are now worth £40million.
Reiss and Kris Edgerton, 30 and 29, have been named in the Sunday Times Rich List and opened up about the fact they used to brainstorm ideas on Skype with the UK’s youngest billionaire.
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Ben Francis, a Birmingham-born entrepreneur, is the founder of fitness wear brand Gymshark, which was valued at over £1billion in 2020.
But the Edgertons had also started Aybl, a Redditch-based women’s gym wear brand are now worth 10s of millions, according to this year’s list.
Reiss and Kris have opened up about their rise to success – from feeling lost after leaving their studying plans behind, and making a mere £150 a week.
The brothers revealed they, and the Gymshark creator, were each earning up to £10,000 a month from an internet advertising venture while still at college.
Reiss told The Times: “We’d often be going until three in the morning.
“We were 16, 17, but we’d be talking business strategies, bouncing ideas off each other.”
He said the mates would all sit up at night and share entrepreneurial ideas.
The 30-year-old said: “The most important thing for us is producing functional clothing that fits well at a good price.
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“Our customers need to feel comfortable and confident wearing it. The last thing anyone wants to feel is that some bloke down the gym is trying to make out the shape of your underwear through your leggings.
“Some women won’t go to a gym because they understandably feel self-conscious about what they’re wearing. I hate that. Exercise should be for anyone — whether you’re big, small, muscly, skinny, thin or fat.”
He opened up about their upbringing, too.
Reiss said: “I’d fallen out with my parents and moved in with my nan.
“I was one day away from joining the army. I’d signed my oath of allegiance and everything. They weren’t happy when I quit
“Kris was working in a fish and chip shop, earning £150 a week.”
Reiss encouraged others to follow in his footsteps
He said: “Don’t be frightened of failure. When you get to 20 or 21, something should click and you think, ‘I really want to make something of myself.’
“I cut off a few friends. You need a group of like-minded friends to push you on together.”
