A STOURBRIDGE man has celebrated his biggest business win to date after being commissioned by the England football team's kit man to customise trainers bearing the names of the entire Euro 2020 squad.
Lee Martin turned his hobby of restoring tired and worn out trainers into a business after being made redundant from his long-time job as a first aid trainer for Impellam Group during the pandemic in July 2020.
The venture Sole2Sole, which he runs from his home in Norton, has gone from strength to strength – with orders coming in left, right and centre since he started showcasing his services on Facebook.
He couldn’t believe his luck, however, when an order came in from England kitman Pat Frost who wanted 27 pairs of trainers to honour the Three Lions' Euro 2020 stars.
Pat, who is based in Telford, later took to social media to showcase the commemorative collection of Adidas trainers, which Lee was commissioned to customise with the names of every England squad member – not forgetting manager Gareth Southgate.
Taking to Twitter, Pat tweeted: "Made a wall of trainers tonight and also as I don’t collect footie shirts I thought I’d get 27 pairs of trainers done...one for every squad member and one for the gaffer of course."
Made a wall of trainers tonight and also as I don’t collect Footie shirts I thought I’d get 27pairs of trainers done….one for every squad member and one for the gaffer of course pic.twitter.com/S8Cb0xpedt
— Pat Frost (@KitmanPat) September 15, 2021
Lee, aged 46, said Pat, West Bromwich Albion's former kitman, wanted something to commemorate England's success in getting to the Euro 2020 final and he added: "He loves his trainers."
The order was among hundreds Lee has successfully completed since he launched his Sole2Sole venture.
He described it as his "favourite job" to date but said he loves his new found profession, which requires much patience but results in a great deal of satisfaction especially when he's able to restore shoes of sentimental value to their former glory.
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