THIRTEEN years ago a Polish man arrived in London with just a bicycle and £200 to his name – now he runs a business that turns over £7million a year.
Alex Landowski, 37, built his thriving medical courier service firm from the ground up and it’s going from strength to strength.
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He owns Medical Logistics and employs a team of 25 staff – plus more than 50 contractors.
But the dad-of-two came from humble beginnings – he worked for free while struggling to find a place to call home.
Alex, whose company is London‘s only 24/7 dedicated medical courier service, touched down in the capital at the age of 24.
He made the call to shift to the UK with the hopes of paying off debt back in Poland.
And while he was sleeping on the floor of a friend’s home, where 10 other migrants lived, Alex took on a temporary unpaid job as a bike courier.
He told the Mirror: “I was already low on my £200 and started to run out of money. I couldn’t keep cycling round London for no money, so I quit.
“But those three weeks gave me an understanding of London – I could now tell people I had experience.”
Alex said he quickly a paid job cycling around the city and a place to live so things were looking up – until they weren’t.
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The low income saw him thrown out onto the street again, before he started illegally squatting in an empty warehouse near Old Street in North London.
Alex said: “There were loads of weird people, but there was water and electricity and you didn’t have to pay any bills.”
But within a matter of months he and the other squatters were being thrown out, and Alex realised it was time to move on and get himself sorted.
He quickly found a home in a council estate, landed a pay rise and decided it was time to try become his own boss.
Alex said: “My former employer was small but very good, they had a good service level.
“I was thinking, there was nobody providing dedicated medical couriers in London with that kind of service level. That was my plan.”
He started delivering to GPs and clinics himself, forming the foundations for his empire today.
The 37-year-old now lives with his wife and two children in Cotswolds and is proud to have built a business where he’s employing others.
Alex said: “It’s my way of saying thank you for letting me in.
“The UK has always treated me good. Every time I tell this story, it has some positive impact.”
