A businessman who started on his dad’s market stall at the tender age of seven, and was “breadwinner” for his mum and disabled brother a few years later has landed a new contract.

Ricky Shah, now 20, of Southdown Crescent, Newbury Park, is no stranger to businesses as 10 years ago he was running his own market stall in Dagenham with four people working beneath him but his recent contract to serve Carphone Warehouse with mobile phone accessories has seen his business expand further.

He said: “At 10 I was making a decent amount of money and also studying at primary school.”

He was also working in the Ilford Recorder newsagents his dad owned named Ricky’s News, on Aldborough Road North, Ilford.

Two years later he took a big risk “borrowing” £500 to start his own business selling phones and later accessories.

He said: “Aged 12 I started a business using my mum’s credit without telling her. I used the money I made to support my mum and my disabled brother. I was the breadwinner of the family.”

Now Ricky has a team of 10 people and is selling his own brand of phone and tablet accessories Samrick exclusively to the international phone company. His products are being trialled in up to 50 stores nationwide.

Ricky, after studying at Oaks Park High School, in Ilford, did not go on to university instead he went straight into the real world.

He said: “I thought this would be the better route rather than going to uni. Instead of getting in debt and looking for a job I have got my own business and my wages are going up.

“If you are creative and feel that you have something the market doesn’t have, just go for it and you never know what might happen.”