Vince Power: How I made £38m from music festivals

Vince Power, founder of the music festival organiser, Mean Fiddler, explains how he went from flogging furniture to partnering Britain's most famous music festival.

When he came to London from rural Ireland, aged 16, in the 1960s, Vince Power tried his hand "at a bit of everything". But it was only when he tried demolition that he "finally found something worth settling on". The rash of new high-rise housing being built across London meant that older buildings had to be demolished. So "lots of decent old furniture was being left behind". Power bought a van and began selling it to dealers across London. "I was getting it for free so I was making good profits." Business boomed and Power set up a chain of shops with his brother.

However, he didn't want to be selling furniture for ever. Much more interested in music, Power opened a club in London's Harlesden in 1982. "The council was sceptical so the only way I could get a licence was by buying a venue." The club, renamed The Mean Fiddler, cost £100,000. Power raised a chunk of the money by striking advance deals with a brewery "a better option than going to the banks".

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.