GOT a football shirt that needs a bit of TLC? Taunton-based Damien Hull, known as Damo, owns a business restoring all kinds of football shirts from his home - working with clients who include popular music artist Sam Tompkins.
Damo, 22, originally started out by selling retro football shirts online and through social media but found greater success in restoring football shirts with a gap in the market.
Damo said: “Well I saw a space for it. So many shirts going for pennies because of slight damages that are unfixable to most, but with the right equipment you can get your shirt to be almost brand new again.
“I have seen a lot of people who have personal valuable shirts that I was able to fix for them to be loved again which was nice to see.”
With such a huge portfolio of shirts that he’s worked on, Damo finds it hard to choose his pick of the bunch as his favourite.
Damo said: “Some of my favourite shirts I have worked on have to include a match-worn England 90’ top from a U21s international tournament. I have always loved doing Liverpool shirts as I’m a fan and the club means a lot to me.
“The Italian shirts are always interesting and unbelievable, due to the majority being from such an iconic era of football that all football fans must respect.”
A retro Fiorentina top from the 90s that was fixed up to sell. (Image: @allfootballshirts)
After starting his business last year, Damo has built strong connections with his returning customer base and has even worked with popular music artist, Sam Tompkins.
When Sam got in touch with Damo about a few of his shirts, he was overwhelmed to say the least.
Damo said: “The Sam Tompkins collab was crazy, he is a great customer and also a lovely person. I am hoping to venture out to more high-profile customers to help push my business.
“I already have some big collaborations in the works.”
Alongside the football shirt business, Damo is bringing up a young family and working a day job as his main source of income. Time management for him is one of his biggest challenges.
He said: “The biggest challenge with the business is certainly time management. Making sure I spend time with my family, concentrating on my day job and pushing this business are all important to me.
“I have had a recent influx in orders, ranging from extremely rare shirts to Sunday league football teams. No shirt is the same!”
Marketing is important for all businesses and Damo prides himself on what he does, which includes some custom-made business cards he created.
Damo said: “Marketing is always key for me. Without my name out there, and the people who are interested, there is no business at all. I am doing a lot of marketing on my Instagram, and a lot on Facebook.
“Most of my business comes via word of mouth from satisfied customers!”
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