PODCAST

Stephen Lane on turning a love for movie props into a £40m auction business – Small Business Sessions (S7E8)

Dan MartinDan Martin Content & Events

Posted: Wed 13th Nov 2024

It's time for episode eight in series seven of the Small Business Sessions, Enterprise Nation's podcast powered by the business.connected online training programme and our partners Vodafone Business, Constant Contact, JP Morgan and Dropbox.

Episode eight: Stephen Lane, Propstore

Joining freelance journalist Dan Martin for the eighth episode in the series and the 100th episode in total is Stephen Lane, founder of entertainment memorabilia business Propstore.

In the early 90s, movie lover Stephen began hunting for the props and costumes that were used to create his favourite films.

His collecting hobby became a business in 1998 and more than 25 years later, Propstore has 70 employees in London and Los Angeles and more than 25,000 square feet of archived props and costumes. The business also turns over £35 million despite Stephen having taken on no external investment.

Since it started, Propstore has located and auctioned thousands of famous items to collectors around the world. Items include the lightsaber used by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones Fedora, and guitars played on stage by the Gallagher brothers from Oasis.

In an episode packed with insights and advice, the entrepreneur discusses:

turning a love for film memorabilia into an actual business
reaching £35 million in turnover despite taking on no outside investment
how he tracks down memorabilia like Darth Vader's lightsaber and Indiana Jones's hat
establishing a business in the US
running a business during several economic downturns
the impact of winning a Queen's and King's Award for Enterprise

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Dan MartinDan Martin Content & Events

I'm a freelance content creator and event host who helps small businesses and the organisations that support them. I'm also Enterprise Nation's Local Leader for Bristol. I have 20 years of experience as a small business journalist having interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs from famous names like Sir Richard Branson and Deborah Meaden to the founders behind brand new start-ups. I've worked for a range of leading small business publications and support groups, most recently as head of content at Enterprise Nation where I was responsible for the prolific output of content on the company's blog and social media. I now freelance for Enterprise Nation as the website's news reporter and as the host of the Small Business sessions podcast. I'm based in Bristol where I run and host regular events with the local small business community in my role as Enterprise Nation's Local Leader for Bristol. I also have strong connections with other major business organisations in the south west region. In total, I've hosted over 100 events including conferences with an audience of hundreds for international brands like Xero and Facebook and live web chats from inside 10 Downing Street. With my partner, I co-run Lifestyle District, a lifestyle blog focused on culture, art, theatre and photography.

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