How homeless bloke went from sofa-surfing to CEO of 5million law firm

Adam says his parents eventually kicked him out for his relentlessly bad behaviour. After sofa surfing on friends' couches until their parents got sick of him too, the then-20-year-old found himself homeless

16:37, 05 Oct 2024Updated 17:44, 05 Oct 2024

How Adam Pope went from homeless criminal to CEO of a 5million law firm(Image: MEN Media)

Entrepreneur Adam Pope has shared his story of rags to riches from sleeping in a tent in his parents' garden to running his own 5million law firm.

Growing up in the Lostock area of Bolton, Adam Pope had a fairly regular start to life. With two parents that loved him and a stable home, Adam's family were shocked when, as a teenager, he turned down a bad path.

From joyriding cars to holding illegal raves, Adam found himself in hot water with police many times during his adolescence. He once almost faced jail after being caught driving whilst disqualified several times.

Click for more of the latest news from the Daily Star.

More than 20 years on and now living a very different path, the-now CEO of Spencer Churchill Law shared his success story with the Manchester Evening News.

[Adam Pope]

Adam Pope told the Manchester Evening News how he built a 5million law firm from scratch after spending his early 20s homeless(Image: Adam Pope/MEN Media)

I was on a self-destructive trail, Adam, now 43, explained: "Ive always been a nice person I was never a bad person I just never knew why I was going down this path or what the cause was.

I came from a good background; my parents are still together. Its not like I came from a broken home.

Adam says his parents eventually kicked him out for his relentlessly bad behaviour. After sofa surfing on friends' couches until their parents got sick of him too, the then-20-year-old found himself homeless.

[Adam Pope]

Adam explained his bad path had no clear cause, having grown up in a stable home with supportive parents(Image: Adam Pope/MEN Media)

For six long months, Adam was forced to sleep on the streets, on park benches, or in the garden of his family home. But the long nights weren't always for sleeping.

I walked the streets at night just to pass the time, he added. By the end of the night, I would have walked 20 miles instead of going to sleep. I would just walk and walk and walk.

Sleeping was never a thing. You couldnt switch off properly. But I knew I was better off in the tent compared to some of the other places I was in."

[Adam Pope]

The CEO explained how he would walk the streets instead of sleeping, for safety(Image: Adam Pope/MEN Media)

Despite his homelessness, Adam continued to attend college to finish his business course. Eventually his college lecturer found out and confronted him.

His tent, containing everything he owned, was stolen soon after. Adam was unable to finish his college course.

Adams grandma eventually found out about his predicament and invited him to stay with him. He tried to get things back on track, even managing to find employment, but was fired from every job over poor punctuality and other issues.

[Adam Pope]

Despite trying to make a life for himself in his early 20s, Adam found himself consistently fired (Image: MEN Media)

He eventually started working at his fathers business as a tea boy a humble role that finally made him realise he wanted more out of life.

At the age of 27, Adam started a financial services dispute company before going on to launch Spencer Churchill five years later.

The Bolton-based law firm based in Bolton specialises in corporate law, commercial mediation, dispute resolution, employment law, real estate, intellectual property and private client services. Incredibly, the business now turns over 5m.

[Adam Pope]

How Adam Pope went from homeless criminal to CEO of a 5million law firm(Image: MEN Media)

Although the business is already hugely successful, Adam has no intention of slowing down aiming to scale the firm even further in both revenue and size.

Article continues below

Described by colleagues on LinkedIn as "a top class CEO", the entrepreneur maintains that he wouldn't have his success today, if it wasn't for learning from hardships.

Its not where you started, its where you finish, he added. Ive had a very difficult early few years. It would have ruined a lot of people.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters

[Dailystar Icon]

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Choose Daily Star as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.

[Google Preferred Source Badge]

At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the "Do Not Sell or Share my Data" button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions.