Meet the couple who turned a £20 voucher into a business with £20 million turnover in just 13 years

Barry and Katy Tong founded Sol Retail, otherwise known as Stephensons Online, back in January 2011 and the multi-million pound business is based in Swan Valley.

Barry says there was never a right time to set up a venture, and it all began when they received a £20 voucher after complaining to a shop about the incorrect flavour being inside a packet of crisps when he was being tested for intolerances.

Katy used the voucher to purchase some of her favourite health and beauty products. After Barry put them online jokingly and they sold by the time Katy got out of the shower, the pair saw real potential for online sales.

This also fell at a similar time to when Barry’s mother sadly passed away, and the pair turned to eBay to sell her belongings – as well as at car boot sales. Any money they made, they used to purchase new products to sell on.

It was in January 2011 when they became self-employed and Katy accepted redundancy that summer to invest her time into the business, as they were beginning to make a few thousand pounds each month.

The business has continued to grow year-on-year since then, and the pair are proud to have never borrowed any money or utilised an overdraft since launching.

Sol Retail is a global retailer on third party platforms, such as Amazon and eBay, and the team represents brands from across the world and drives their products.

It is now one of the biggest health and beauty sellers on Amazon and is on track to turn over £50 million in the next three years.

“We’re not afraid of hard work, have good people behind us, and took it step by step,” said Barry, who admits he and Katy never anticipated this would one day be their reality.

Katy had worked on the business full-time for two years until Barry was in a position where he could leave his job – and it was at this time that they wondered if they could turn over a million pounds with little support.

As a determined pair, they decided they wanted to prove everyone who doubted Sol Retail’s potential wrong. The real challenge for them was reaching the second million, and they underwent a revamp to drive it internationally.

“Then we flew again,” said Barry. “We always asked what was next and we were never satisfied. We never stopped or looked back. We wanted to get to £10 million and be in the top 0.2 percent of all companies. We wanted to become the elite and do something others haven’t.

“We’ve not borrowed a single penny. It became more of a challenge to us, thinking what’s next, but we’ve never lost our roots. We’re still the people we were 10 years ago.”

One of the important aspects of Barry and Katy’s journey is that neither of them went to university or have academic qualifications behind them.

Following A Level Results Day, and with GCSE results soon to be released, Barry shared this message: “There’s so much pressure on the young to perform, but there are so many successful people who haven’t done that.

“You can do anything you want as long as you’re willing to work hard, learn and develop. It’s about the tenacity, drive, and getting off our backsides to do something. If you haven’t got the results you wanted, it’s not the end of the world.”

When asked why he believes Sol Retail has been such a success, the co-founder said: “We’re driven and determined. Me and Katy have a great partnership and bounce off each other, and we have strong people around us.”

Barry’s proudest achievement was when he was able to leave his former role to take on Sol Retail full-time – particularly as it gave him and Katy the flexibility to spend time with their children as a family.

He also mentioned the “momentous” occasion of reaching £1 million turnover, as well as the “humongous” £20 million milestone.

The Sol Retail team also takes pride in giving back to the community, particularly through vital organisations that work hard to make a difference.

The pair first started working with The Lewis Foundation in 2018 and have now donated nearly half a million pounds of stock to the charity to sell.

“We’re lucky to give back now,” said Barry. “When we do it, we do it wholeheartedly.”

Looking to the future, the focus is now on achieving a £50 million turnover and working out how they can grow further on a global scale. Continuing to expand their charitable work is also a priority.

“We’re trying hard to employ locally,” said Barry. “Everything we do, we try to do locally.”

The company currently employs 38 people, who are either based at the Sol Retail warehouse in Far Cotton or the Swan Valley office.