Watch: Shropshire teenager gives advice on setting up a business after starting up his own clothing range

Alex Sangwin, a former Bridgnorth Endowed and William Brookes school pupil, is looking forward to a busy year with Villains & Vengeance (V&V), the clothing company he launched in 2012. It unveils its first collection at the end of January, under the I'm No Villain label.

He said: "The collection is a limited-edition range of clothing, with each item individually numbered. I am also planning another collection in the summer, which will be designed in association with my sister Hannah Lois Sangwin."

Alex, who lives in Pattingham, has seen his V&V clothes now stocked by London clothes retailer Among The First in Shoreditch, sharing shelf-space with brands such as Nicce London, Cheap Monday and Antioch.

He vividly remembers how his early ventures as an entrepreneur got him into trouble at school. He said: "When I was 12 I started selling sweets to my classmates, which was a great introduction to the rules of supply and demand, but it didn't go down well with the teachers. I got a week in isolation when they found out what I was doing."

After starting sixth form Alex found that his studies were of secondary interest to running his own company. But one of the hardest things about launching that company was finding a suitable name.

He said: "I really liked the clothing brand Crooks & Castles, but couldn't think of a word to combine with Villains. Then I watched an episode of Crimewatch, heard the word 'vengeance' and suddenly knew that I had my brand.

"I launched Villains & Vengeance when I was 15, so it was an established company by the time I entered the sixth form. My first year at studying A-levels did not go as well as I had hoped, so I made the decision to leave school and focus on what I really wanted to do, which was to run my business."

Persuading his parents that giving up school was the right thing to do was hard, but Alex's father David has been one of the main influences on his business development.

He said: "My parents saw that I had a passion for business and a desire to succeed in an area outside of what schooling could offer.

"I remember when I was about eight, I talked to my dad about running a small retail tennis business. He gave me a list of all the things I would need to do to make it work, and needless to say at eight years old I wasn't ready to do any of them.

"My dad has always been ready to show me what I have to do to turn ideas into reality. He has been a massive help in getting V&V to where it is today."

Now into his third year of running V&V, Mr Sangwin has people who contribute to developing his company. His marketing is handled by James Ellis of Tick Marketing, whose work he describes as fantastic. Friend Sam Harvey also acts as an advisor to the company.

Despite V&V recently expanding their online range to over 80 items and having an imminent collection release, Alex remains determined to keep pushing his business forward.

He said: "Every day when I come to work I look forward to it and I believe that you have to follow your dreams. As my favourite quote states: 'If you don't build your own dreams, someone else will hire you to help build theirs'."