The guy got so rich that he bought Clacton FC – then lost everything and ended up getting benefits

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A businessman who became so rich that he bought Clacton Football Club has spoken of his downfall – which has taken him from £5m to claiming benefits within a decade.

Jeff Dewing, now 57, quit his day job as an air conditioning manager to start a business in 1992.

The former engineer, who says he was very passionate about his job, spent the past year building an intelligent database system for his current employer, all in his time.

“I spent a month on my mortgage payments on a computer building the software and that was a complete game-changer for them,” Jeff, who was 21 at the time, said.

But when Jeff asked to return £900 to cover his computer costs, the company refused.

“I needed this money because I was late on my mortgage, but despite doing all my hard work, they refused to pay me,” said Jeff, who dropped out of school at age 16 with three GCSEs.

Jeff says he buried his head in the sand because he was too distracted

“So I walked away and started my own air conditioning company instead.”

That was the start of Essex Air Conditioning Ltd – and the next 10 years saw some of the best in Jeff’s career.

“I remember walking into the bank and asking for a loan,” he recalls.

“HSBC – known as Midland Bank at the time – gave me a small government-backed business loan. They gave me £20,000.

“I teamed up with a friend, spent £10,000 on a truck and a vending car and the rest on equipment. The last thousands went on base pay just to cover the mortgage. The desk was my kitchen table.

“And the only way was then.”

In its first year, Jeff’s business was expected to bring in more than £110,000. In fact, she made £700,000. It was booming and the demand was rising day by day.

The businessman says that there were times when he refused to help, because he thought that he “knew everything” (

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It was until five years ago when he turned his attention to Clacton FC.

“They called and asked if I wanted to sponsor the club,” he said. “I replied no, I will buy it instead.”

Jeff said that he was satisfied with his job, it became boring and lost interest, so he transferred his managerial duties to a colleague and turned his attention to the football club – the dream of every man.

“It gave me a life boost, the club became my life and I spent five years at the heart of it.

“We won the league three times, brought in the best players and the club was thriving.”

He bought the club for only £35, but came up with a debt of £450,000

But she wasn’t making any money. Jeff saved the debt-ridden club for just £35, but that included a shortfall of £450,000. Over the course of five years, he paid an additional £250,000 at the club which he described as his “best years”.

At the time, he said, he was convinced he had made it because he had £300,000 worth of cars in his front yard.

It was until 1996 when a recession began to take its toll, and the business “fallen off a cliff”.

Jeff called Essex Air Conditioning one afternoon and asked his colleague to transfer some money into his account to spend at the club.

“That’s when reality hit the house,” he said.

“I remember my colleague saying ‘we don’t have the money,'” he said.

Jeff’s attention quickly turned to his failed act, but it was too late.

“We were working with construction giants on a pay-per-job basis even though they were large-scale contracts. Often times the money would never arrive. This doubled into something much bigger, and the business couldn’t be salvaged.”

Jeff remembers that he went into the bank and asked for a loan, but with his house now also on credit, there was nothing he could put on the table.

When everything fell apart, Jeff said he blames himself for everything that went wrong

“I lost it all that year. I felt like a failure and realized it was my fault because I neglected work.” “I drifted away and didn’t see she was on her knees.

“If I had kept my focus, I would have been one of the biggest air conditioner suppliers in the country today. I became lazy and took my eyes off the ball. I felt so fulfilled and distracted.”

“I couldn’t even buy a car, I borrowed one from my parents and had to claim a job seeker allowance. I went once a week for £168. I couldn’t look my family in the face.”

But Jeff persevered. He spent that time reframing his priorities. He taught himself programming and spent years reflecting on his mistakes and in 2012, he made a comeback.

That year, Jeff started the technology company Cloudfm from his garden shack.

Jeff succeeded in increasing the company’s revenue to £1m in its first year, a success that he is credited with learning from his mistakes.

The company now turns over £50 million and has 250 employees.

He has now written a book, Doing the Opposite, that opens up about his mistakes.

“It’s not about telling people what to do and what not to do – it’s about what you’ve learned along the way and sharing that knowledge to empower others.”

Here are Jeff’s top five tips for anyone starting a business.

1. Surround yourself with people you can learn from. Knowledge is power and you don’t know everything – so be willing to listen, grow and learn.

2. Leave room for failure. There is no avoiding failure, so be prepared for it and when it does, get something out of it. Some of the biggest successes can come from falls and back again.

3. Running a business is a lonely and traumatic process. Realize that there are a lot of people around who will guide you, listen to you, and support you. I’ve learned that you need to be willing to accept help. Support is available when you require guidance.

5. You get what you put into it. If you don’t invest in your employees, they won’t invest in your business.

Man earns £1m a year selling socks on eBay After being inspired by the benefits of a man who took a £10,000 overdraft for selling baths online, he’s now making £2m a month.

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