Liam James and Matt Green: The iOutlet

Liam James and Matt Green, 27 and 26
Company: The iOutlet (James Green Ltd)
Web: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-iOutlet

With smartphone use booming and apps dominating the digital landscape, more and more consumers have decided to invest in devices like the Apple iPhone – but with RRP prices regularly exceeding £500 and contracts tying down users to restrictive two-year periods, it can represent a prohibitively expensive option in the current economic climate. Enter Liam James and Matt Green’s start-up The iOutlet – the eBay-based business buys up second-hand iPhones in bulk, refurbishing and unlocking them to offer them to consumers at knock-down prices.

This simple business model is starting to pay off handsomely for the young entrepreneurial duo – since launching in 2012 they have already sold in excess of 10,000 devices via the online marketplace, generating revenues of more than £2.1m in 2013. The pair say they currently sell 50 iPhones per day, increasing to 100 during the Christmas period, and confidently expect to grow turnover to £4.5m this year as demand booms. Named in our Startups 100 2014 list, the pair opened two bricks-and-mortar stores in Plymouth this year, with plans to open additional stores in a neighbouring county in the near future.