Speakers

Steven Smith is a serial entrepreneur and mentor best known for founding Poundland and turning a market stall idea into a billion-pound national retail institution. At the age of 17 he opened his first million-pound turnover shop in West Bromwich; he helped grow the family business Hootys to become Europe’s biggest cash & Carry. When Hootys was sold in December 1989, he created the Poundland brand with a £50,000 loan from his dad. Everybody said it will never work, but Steven proved them wrong, especially as 85% of the population of Great Britain has been in or purchased something from a Poundland store. 

Steven's simple commercial philosophy, “there are no bad products; only bad prices,” underpins a career defined by practical innovation and relentless focus on value. 

Poundland was one of the fastest-growing companies in its time; it created thousands of jobs and had offices in Wolverhampton, Hong Kong, China and India. The warehouse that Steven designed and built (the retail support centre) on the black road in Walsall was designed to do half a billion pounds of turnover; everything was done in-house.

Steven brings along more than four decades of business experience; he has now diversified into mortgages for the police and the armed forces, property finance, property development, workforce management software, and AI. He is a regular keynote speaker, trusted mentor and adviser to organisations and government on business growth and economic acceleration. Celebrated for leadership and team success, he and his teams have won multiple awards and national recognition. 

Steven is passionate about creating opportunity jobs and changing people’s lives. He combines hands-on experience with a wide network of contacts to help others scale ideas into lasting enterprises. His working motto is direct and action-oriented: “Let’s make it happen.”

Steven believes he has now found the next billion-pound business.