Fred Lumu makes a big splash with his car wash company

Fred Lumu at his car wash in Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre

Fred Lumu, an inspirational entrepreneur who set up his car wash business after moving to Britain from Uganda aged only 17, has signed a new 10-year contract with Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre.

Fred, 30, a father-of-one, arrived in the UK from his home in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, almost 14 years ago with only a basic knowledge of English and put himself through college obtaining qualifications in English and maths.

After working for a car wash company, which gave him management roles in various parts of Britain, and with financial and practical help from the Prince’s Trust, he set up his own company, called Happy Car Wash, on the car park at Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre.

Fred has now signed a new 10-year lease to keep it running until 2024.

His success means he has spent last year as a Prince’s Trust special ambassador travelling the country describing his experiences to other budding young business people.

Fred said: “I was a young man who had arrived here from Uganda not many years before and despite having a few qualifications I didn’t know too much about running my own business.

“But I did know the car wash business pretty well after working in it as a manager for some years, so that’s what I decided I wanted to do on my own account.

“Somebody suggested I try the Prince’s Trust for help and that’s what I did. I went through the application process and they arranged for me to be given a loan of £4,000 to set up my business. It was also arranged for me to have my own business mentor to guide me through the initial stages of setting up my own company.

“The mentor assigned to help me was Peter Clarkin, a man with lots of experience, who gave me so much help and advice with all aspects of starting out on my own.

“In the early days of having my business at Rochdale Exchange it had been just myself and a bucket of water going round the car park offering to clean cars for the shoppers.

“But the loan from the Prince’s Trust enabled me to buy some proper equipment and arrange things like water and electricity supplies.

“I now have car wash cabins where I take the orders from customers on the second and third floors of the car park and I also have a jetwash machine where the work is done on the first floor.”

Fred, who lives in Oldham, added: “I also employ quite a number of guys to do the car washing. They work for me on a self-employed basis and the number I have with me varies according to how busy we are but there it’s usually around five.

“Over the past few years I must have had about 40 guys working with me and quite a number of them have been putting themselves through college just as I did. They like it because the hours give them the flexibility to do that. One of them is now studying law at Manchester University. I also give them all proper training for the job.

“I’m delighted to have signed another lease for the car park with Rochdale Exchange and I’m looking forward very much to another 10 years at the centre.”