From a very early age, Joe was always going to be a success in business.
A born entrepreneur, having a ‘paper-round’ was never going to give Joe the pocket money he required, and he quickly started to make more money than his mates, by simply buying and selling via the car-boot sales.
Initially Joe was a regular purchaser of bikes within the town, he would buy them, clean them, and readvertise them for double the purchase price. Latterly, he realised that he could achieve more profit by ‘braking’ the bikes down and selling the individual parts on Internet sales sites, often providing returns of over 4 times the investment.
The bike sales continued into his early teens, but he had eyes on a bigger prize, and was keen to invest his profits into Motocross bikes, something that was particularly popular within his age group. Supported by family members, young Joe would travel throughout the Midlands buying bikes of all shapes and sizes and making money on every deal, but his focus was on KTM SX125’s, a really popular bike at the time.
The KTM sales moved Joe into a different price band with bikes being purchased from anything from £500 to £1500 and sold for nearly double the purchase price every time. The profit came from buying dirty, tired looking bikes, with oil leaks or damage and selling clean, pristine examples of the KTM’s and Joe’s were always the best available on-line. Making money out of the KTM’s was easy, Joe was seen as a knowledgeable trader in the bikes, with his attention to detail and exceptional focus on the customer, he soon became the ‘go to’ person for buyers of this particular brand of bike…but he was now approaching 17 years of age and with driving lessons now starting, he could move onto his real passion, cars.
Ahead of passing his driving test Joe purchased his first car, a Vauxhall Corsa, which he immediately started to enhance and improve, ready for the day he was able to drive alone. Deep-dish wheels, big exhaust, sexy paintwork, and audio system that filled the boot, the car was ready for the day of the test, and it was on the road that evening.
The problem was, the car drew attention, offers were made and it had to be sold – Joe had found his next business venture as he set about buying and selling cars at a profit, but there were concerns how this could continue as he left school and headed off to university.
This concern didn’t last long as he realised how little people knew about enhancing their cars, particularly when it came to wheels – He’d spotted another gap in the market!
During his studies at Uni, Joe researched the market and found that there were very few specialists in alloy wheels, customers were being sold replica or fake alloys and there was a gap for someone offering genuine alloys at a competitive price – Once Joe graduated from university in 2013, he formed his own company ‘The Alloy Hub Limited’.
The Alloy Hub is now entering its 10th year of trading and Joe has established one of the UK’s most well respected and renowned alloy wheel businesses, specialising in genuine OEM wheels. The business now employs wheels specialists who, under the guidance of Joe, can provide customers with wheel refurbishment and repair services, along with the supply of prestige marque alloy wheels. The business has gone from strength to strength, has an excellent reputation in the industry and Joe now supplies wheels to customers in the UK and all over the world.
Joe’s reputation within the motor industry is growing considerably every year, he’s now not only seen as one of the UK’s alloy wheel ‘experts’ but many of the vehicle manufacturers have contacted him for advice, as to what wheels will fit what vehicles. This is particularly evident within the commercial vehicle sector, where Joe is seen as the best person to advise on which prestige wheels will fit which van, pick-up or any type of truck, as the industry doesn’t have the knowledge or awareness of what the customer is looking for.
The commercial vehicle sector offers the customer products that are practical, tax efficient and functional, but they don’t inspire or provide a luxury driving experience, hence the customer continues to focus on purchasing a car – What was required was an offering that provided the customer with all the benefits of a commercial, but with the aspirational benefits of a car, Joe saw this as another opportunity and in 2017 launched VEA Automotive Limited.
VEA Automotive specialises in the supply of bespoke, luxury pick-ups, that are not only tax efficient, but offer the customer all the luxuries of a prestige car. VEA Automotive take pick-ups from manufacturers such as Ford, VW and Mercedes and completely redesign the appearance of them, to provide the customer with something that is different from everything else on the road. Luxury paintwork, lift kits, body kits, bespoke VEA interiors and of course new wheels, make the VEA pick-up the choice of the decerning purchaser, who wants a quality product from a reputable supplier.
Since its formation in 2017, VEA Automotive has grown year on year and now sells to customers all over the UK, Ireland and into Europe. The business has an exceptional reputation for providing a quality product at a competitive price and the reviews from satisfied customers prove that what Joe says, he delivers.
Joe is very much still the ideas man, however since the birth of his daughter ‘Hallie’ in 2021 he has taken a back seat when it comes to the day to day running of the businesses. He has a great team in place, he invests in his people, they’re well trained and well rewarded and, as they share his vision, they will continue to develop Joe’s business and themselves.
Joe believes you need to work hard, but you also need to work smart and encourages his staff and customers to provide him with any suggestions for improvements to the business – Joe’s businesses don’t stand still, he believes you’re only as good as your last sale and you need to continually improve your offering to stay ahead of the competition.
