The fish fanatic who reeled in a fortune

Profile of Matt Stevenson of Reef One who turned his hobby into a business with a turnover of £5.9m. What was his big idea?

Aquarium designer and manufacturer Matt Stevenson's earliest experience with keeping fish was rather traumatic. When he was ten, his sister made the regrettable mistake of cleaning out the pebbles in his goldfish bowl with bleach, killing his pet fish, Johnny. But it didn't put him off his hobby. In fact, ten years later, as a student of product design at Derby University, he couldn't get into a halls of residence because of the portable aquarium he was carrying around with him it was too big to fit into the halls. "I had a huge fish tank with all the filters, three or four fish, a few shrimp, corals and loads of really weird organisms."

How Stevenson began his aquarium design business

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.