'I started making wooden reindeer aged 12, now I have my own business'

As Christmas market season approaches, makers up and down the country will be preparing their wares - but not many will be as young as Charlie Line, who started his business when he was just 12 years old.

Charlie, now 24, was inspired to start making gifts out of reclaimed wood after he admired a cute - but overpriced - wooden reindeer at a garden centre as a child.

"They're quite popular now, but at the time I thought it was really cool. I turned the tag around and it was £50. I thought I can make that, definitely.

"I went home with my dad's Makita drill and we gave it a go."

When Charlie took 10 of his reindeer to a local market and sold out in an hour, he knew he was on to something.

Now a qualified civil engineer who runs his woodwork business Charlie's Woodland Wonders as a side hustle, he has been speaking to young people at Shipley Library about how it all began.

Speaking about his first market stall success, he said: "I was retailing my reindeers at £10 each, so obviously I'd undercut the competition by a decent amount, but as a 12-year-old making £100 in an hour, you can imagine I was like, 'I've got a business here'.

"At first I kept it to Christmas, but then I expanded to make candle holders and other gifts, all from reclaimed wood and rustics or wood, and Charlie's Woodland Wonders began.

"Over the years, I find I get inspiration from looking in different shops or online, and I just try and figure it out myself.

"Whatever I still sell now, that's basically made it through the process. There's a lot of failed items and things that I couldn't quite get my head around or that didn't really have a market."

Charlie grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and spent four years studying at Loughborough University before moving to Dublin and then to York, where he now lives.

"I had a four-year haitus then I thought, why not give it another go? And within one year of starting again, I managed to win the regional final of a new market trader event for Yorkshire and the Humber, and then moved on to the final."

Many of the markets he sells at are in Yorkshire, including in Castleford, Barnsley and York.

"I love the people up in York, and going to the markets is still my favourite thing. I like just speaking with people and having conversations with everyone, it's really nice," he said.

"It's going really well. I'm currently busy in the workshop day and night making the wooden reindeer outside of work.

"I love it when it comes to Christmas, because I can just make my whole display out of Christmas things, like the reindeer. It's quite gratifying."

Charlie met youngsters at a free event at Shipley Business Enterprise Hub, based at Shipley Library, earlier this month.

He spoke about the challenges he faced, what he has learned along the way, and how markets and events have helped him grow his customer base.

It was organised by Bradford Council, who said they are working hard to boost businesses in the region and inspire entrepreneurs of the future.

Charlie said he wanted to share how important it was to make time for your passions and make them work for you.

"We can waste so much time just watching tele or being on our phones, I just think it's really important that if you are trying to make a small business work, you really need to maximise the time that you've got."

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