20 entrepreneurs


No limits and no rules drive Cas Paton to success with OnBuy Marketplace


Interviewing Cas Paton is a little like seeing a glimpse into the future, when we suspect his name will rank alongside great British entrepreneurs and businessmen such as Dyson, Branson and Sugar. At just 29, he has already had a successful and somewhat varied career. In 2006, he launched Bournemouth-based OnTop Media, a web design, web development and ecommerce solutions company, and this month sees the soft launch of his latest venture. The OnBuy Marketplace will go head-to-head with Amazon and has already attracted top brand names thanks to its simple pricing structure, customer-friendly approach and determination to succeed as a very British company. A self-confessed workaholic, Paton is determined to give his young family the start he never had and, once he has made his money, plans to embark on his next big adventure as a philanthropist. Alison Dewar met him at the OnBuy Marketplace offices in Basingstoke to find out more


If there is such a thing, you would say Paton is a born salesperson. Growing up in Manchester, by the age of 12 he was working in a clothes shop at weekends, before graduating to a jewellery store and then a spell as a door-to-door salesman.


He left school at 16 and a year later joined the Royal Navy to train as an aircraft engineer. He was quickly identified for officer pilot training and, because it required a degree education, he was released to go to Bournemouth University, where he studied law. He never did complete his degree – within two years he had started his own business and from there his entrepreneurial skills have seen his business portfolio grow year-on-year.


chose law because I thought it would be quite challenging. In fact, I didn’t find university challenging enough – the military life had given me the discipline to keep pushing, to optimise your time. I was a few years older than everyone else, I was used to long hours and lots of physical activity, so I found there wasn’t enough to fill my day.


Is that when you began your first business?


I had been doing web design for companies since I was 14, so while I was still at university I launched the web design and web development business. I needed to push myself. Starting my own company meant there were no limits and no rules.


I had just £80 in my pocket so I registered the company, signed an accountant and built the website. I had my first phone call within 24 hours and sold a system for £2,500.


So many ideas in so little time, who has inspired you?


I had a very entrepreneurial uncle who had his own business, he had a nice car, he had everything he wanted and he was respected in the business world. I wanted to be like him. I knew I had to acquire an ability to sell, so I did everything I could to improve my skills.


Going from the navy to university must have been a culture shock?


My childhood goal was to be in the military and probably become a pilot, so the fact I was selected for pilot training meant I felt I had achieved that, even though I didn’t actually do the course. Someone said that I had no education, so when I went to university I


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Between work and university I was doing 90 hours a week so I soon had to make a decision – to either finish my degree or focus on the business. I was already making about £40k a year, so in 2007 I left university and the following year opened my first office. I had met my wife at university and she came to work with me. Within four weeks we had to move to bigger premises and by 2010 we had 16 staff and new offices in Bournemouth town centre. The business now turns over around £500,000 a year.


You’ve clearly branched out since then.


At university I also met Simon Lennon, who’s now our technical director. In 2008, Simon had come up with the idea of building an ecommerce software solution when he was studying for his BSc in Computing. From there,


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we realised that if we had 100 clients using our systems already and they all put their products onto the online marketplace then it would be a great place for them to sell. That’s when the OnBuy Marketplace idea began.


Now we have OnCommerce which is the solutions provider and OnRecycle is our recycling business.


You’re now part of the Centerprise International Group, how did that happen?


Centerprise International was a client of OnTop Media and one day its owner Rafi Razzak asked me what else we were involved with. He was impressed with what we were doing with OnBuy and wanted to invest in the business. We knew


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