An eBay entrepreneur in Poole is set to employ more than 20 staff and rent a third warehouse on the back of a deal with Lewis Hamilton’s sponsors.

Wholesale Clearance UK Ltd has signed a deal with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, to take its clearance Formula One merchandise, which includes the baseball cap and team T-shirt that Lewis Hamilton wears.

Desperate for more space, director Karl Baxter is in the process of renting his third warehouse, the former Carpet Warehouse on Charminster Road, Bournemouth, which he wants to commit to for the next five years.

The four-year-old company, which has a £1m turnover, employs 13 staff and when the property contracts are exchanged in August, he anticipates employing a further 10 staff.

It operates from a 6,000sq ft warehouse on Willis Way Industrial Estate in Poole and rents a further 4,000sq ft warehouse for candle storage.

“The economy has turned in our favour – we are busier than ever,” said Mr Baxter, who started using eBay in 2002, selling his own personal items, which eventually financed a flat purchase in 2005.

After this success, he incorporated the business and initially bought stock from discount retailer Poundland, selling it on eBay for £3.

In its first year of trading Wholesale Clearance UK Ltd generated a £100,000 turnover. Now the business is “looking at £1.2m” and Mr Baxter projects more than double that for next year with the potential of £5m in 2011.

“We have quite a few local customers mainly housewives, people made redundant and party planners who buy candles and underwear.

“We do between 300 and 500 sales a week ranging from between £50 to £5,000 on eBay.

“Over the last four years we have served 15,000 unique customers through eBay and received 7,500 positive comments.

“We do a lot of clothing,” said Mr Baxter, adding: “We stock anything that traders can make a profit on.”

wholesaleclearance.co.uk