He’ll never admit it, but our founder is an inspiring entrepreneur. Poul Nielsen is respected for his determination, so much so The Bolton News decided to share his story.

Here’s the article:

A Bolton businessman inspired the next generation as he told how he created a multi-million pound business from his bedroom after being made redundant.

20 years ago, Poul Nielsen built his business from the ground up, turning a small home-based operation into a multi-million pound operation in the UK paper manufacturing industry.

The 59-year-old from Lostock, currently runs two companies that operate in the paper trading and conversion industry, Paper Trading UK Limited and STAX Converting Limited.

The Danish entrepreneur took matters into his own hands after facing redundancy in 2005.

At the age of 23-year-old Poul secured his first job in a paper mill in Denmark in 1989. Poul came to the UK in 1993 and worked as a paper salesman until 2005

The then 39-year-old had to leave his job as a paper salesman behind due to organisational restructuring.

That same year, Poul created the expert paper trading agency, Paper Trading UK.

Poul said: “I didn’t always know I wanted to own a business. But I knew I wanted something else and something different.”

Poul didn’t have much to start with besides his bedroom, a phone, a computer, a printer and a handful of contacts.

His journey starting Paper Trading UK was completely self-funded. He worked solely with the contacts he’d previously made as a paper salesman to propel his business.

“There wasn’t a grand plan to start with, but it went well, it grew quickly, and I was struggling with space,” he said.

“I had paper samples under my bed, which was not always popular. I also had samples in the spare bedroom, which was full of my stuff.

“In the end, I had to take an external office. Simply because when working from home my family was disruptive, because I was there it wasn’t obvious that I was at work.”

Soon enough, Poul raised enough funds to move into an office across from Bolton School on Chorley New Road. The business expanded and in 2009 Poul decided to start the paper converting company STAX Converting.

The two businesses, now operating mainly in Wigan, Hindley Green, turn over millions annually.

The 19th Bolton Scout Group invited Poul to share his success story in a talk to the young scouts on his ambitious career journey and the sustainability of paper.

His secret of success is: “I love my job. I love getting up in the morning, I love getting to work, I feel good when I know where I’m going, I have a plan, and I know what I’m doing.

“Paper is all around you and most people don’t realise it.

“For most people, it’s an anonymous industry and then when you join it you realise, wow, it’s actually quite important. It’s all around us, it’s everywhere. People take it for granted.”

Poul also highlighted the importance of education and treating others well.

“What you learn in school is important – even if it does not always seem relevant,” Poul explained. “The process of learning is very important as you will continue to learn for the rest of your life.

“Being able to think for yourself, ask questions and compare sources is very important; ask yourself if you are being misled or manipulated by information. Have other people got a motive to make you act in a certain way or buy a certain product – which might not be right for you?”

“Being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes is very important and being a rounded individual is very important for how you get on with other people and how you get on in life.

This will make your life easier if you can make people work with you and not against you.”

Despite defeating the odds, Poul Nielsen still manages to stay humble.

He said: “I’m just a small farm boy from Denmark that got into paper.

“I don’t see myself as ambitious, I think I suffer from imposter syndrome. I just take one thing at a time and do my own thing.

“I feel an affinity to other smaller privately-run businesses. We all have the same issues. You’re constantly playing chess and you’re constantly prioritising, and you only have so much money, you only have so much personal energy or bandwidth.

“But I absolutely love my job. I wouldn’t be without it. And I’ll probably never stop working.”