Draft:Matt Haycox

Matthew "Matt" David Norton Haycox (born December 1980) is a British entrepreneur, businessman, investor, mentor, philanthropist, TV personality and podcaster. He is the founder and CEO of The Matt Haycox Group whose investments include Fenchurch Legal, Bierkeller, Clique and Accent Clothing. He hosts two podcasts Stripping off with Matt Haycox and No Bollocks with Matt Haycox.

Haycox is based in Dubai, with business interests in both Dubai and the UK.

Early life and education
Haycox was born on 25th December 1980 in Leeds, England to parents Christine and David. He attended Leeds Grammar School from the years 1992-1999 and completed his A Levels in Business Studies, Accountancy, Classical Studies and Maths.

He attended the University of Bradford School of Management, but left after 8 weeks to pursue his career.

Career
After dropping out of university at 18, Haycox started work at a local business selling uniforms and career wear that his father had invested in, a role which ultimately led to him taking over the day-to-day running of the business for the next three years. Under his management, Haycox was able to take the business from a £300k per annum loss to an annual profit of £30k in a three year period.

After leaving the uniform business in 2002, Haycox entered the leisure industry when he acquired a community pub in his hometown of Leeds. This was shortly followed by the opening of a city centre bar, also in Leeds.

In March 2004 at the age of 23, Haycox set up The Provocative Group, the holding company for a lap-dancing club trading as Wildcats, originally in Wakefield. The successful cash generative venture led to the openings of more sites across locations in England including Barnsley, Blackpool, Birmingham, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Leeds. Matt also owned more than 50 pubs and seven retail stores.

In 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, which became known as the "Great Recession", lenders began calling in their loans and changing terms. This ultimately led Matt to declare bankruptcy in September 2008 and he received a 12 year ban, prohibiting him from acting as a company director in the UK until 2022.

Haycox has often spoken about his journey back to success, citing this period in his life as acting as a "glorified deal maker or broker". He became a finance broker and used his own experiences of securing finance to help other businesses get the capital they need.

Funding Guru
Haycox founded Funding Guru in 2014, a business finance provider and advisor to UK firms, who are seeking funding solutions to grow their business. The lending company has loaned more than £500m to UK businesses since 2014.

The Matt Haycox Group
Haycox is the founder and CEO of The Matt Haycox Group which is his holding company and investment vehicle. As well as investing in UK businesses, Haycox and the Group also provide support, advice and consultancy services to the businesses in his portfolio.

The current investment portfolio spans fashion, retail, leisure, property, finance and litigation funding. Investee companies include Fenchurch Legal, Bierkeller, Clique, Accent Clothing and Daniel Footwear.

Television Appearances
Haycox has appeared on reality television several times, including appearances on The Real Housewives of Cheshire, Rich House Poor House and Monaco: How The Super Rich Live.

Podcasts
Haycox hosts 2 podcasts including Stripping off with Matt Haycox, where guests bare all about business, money and life and No Bollocks with Matt Haycox which aims to solve business problems offering tips and strategies to scale businesses.

Notable guests include: Sarah Ferguson, Denise van Outen, Katie Price  , Keith Duffy , Lady Victoria Harvey, James Lock, Dapper Laughs, Lottie Moss  , Ant Middleton , MC Harvey, Vanessa Feltz, Sarah Jayne Dunn , Jermaine Pennant, Thomas Skinner , James Haskell, Chesney Hawkes, Kerry Katona  and Jean-Christophe Novelli.

He has also been a guest on a number of different podcasts including The Spencer Lodge Podcast, Talk4 Podcast by Louis Skupien and Jibber with Jaber by Ahmad Jaber.

The Matt Haycox Foundation
The Matt Haycox Foundation was created in 2016, after Haycox had a chance meeting with a young cerebral palsy sufferer, Alfie Stalley. Stalley needed to raise funds in order to undergo a life-changing operation. Haycox was able to donate £16,000, nearly 50% of the money needed for his time-sensitive surgery, selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), which was luckily successful. Touched by the story and wanting to do more, Haycox set up the foundation to improve and save the lives of critically and terminally ill children.

The Foundation aims to raise over £100,000 a year with the strap-line of ‘We don’t make A difference, we make THE difference.’ He personally funds all operating expenses of the charity and uses the time and resources of his team to ensure that 100% of the funds from donors go directly to where they are needed.

Personal life
Haycox married Jenny Ryan in June 2006 in Las Vegas. They lived together in Leeds and have a daughter, Harlie, born 6th September 2006. They divorced in 2016 but remain friends.

As of 2021 he lives in Dubai with his partner Elena. They have a daughter, Nele, born 23rd April 2023.

Haycox owns a 27m Leopard yacht, called Seasquirter, which he originally moored in the South of France. As of February 2023 the yacht moved to Dubai and is a regular feature of both his business and personal life.