Bright future beckons for Burton entrepreneur

A YOUNG entrepreneur who started selling online has just opened his first shop and employed two assistants.

And he is targeting turnover of £750,000 this financial year.

21-year-old Will Chisholm’s company, Lyon Lighting, has now started exporting goods across the world from its base in Burton on Trent.

Over the last two years people have found Lyon Lighting online and the firm is now sending LED lighting to Europe, Africa, America and even as far away as Australia. 

Chisholm, from Marchington near Uttoxeter, showed early signs of business flair. At just 16 he began buying goods and then selling them on online from the family home.

“It started from there and I made enough money to start a business proper and become a limited company,” he said.

He saw the potential for LED light bulbs, which are energy efficient and save money, and sold them through his own website.

But he always wanted a trade counter and lighting showroom and looked around for a year before finding the right place on Greenline Business Park, Wellington Street, which the company now occupies.

The company can supply items from a range of 10,000 products. “If we don’t stock them at Burton we can easily get them from lighting manufacturers and have them delivered the next day,” Chisholm said.

Most of the items are sold through distributors and sent direct to the customers.

“Sometimes we don’t don’t even see what we are selling,” said Chisholm.

Last year Lyon Lighting was runner-up in the small business of the year category in Burton Business Awards.