Darts fan, 14, inspired to open his own store – by Luke Littler
Raymond Leese, 14, who hopes to emulate the Warrington wonderkid, 17, asked his parents in February if he could start the business.
He was gripped by Littler’s incredible performances as the star got to the final of the World Darts Championship and later won the sport’s Premier League.
And they agreed to let him set up the business in a former pub – which used to house their restaurant – as long as he took responsibility for running it.
Raymond, who christened his store ‘Upstart Darts’, said of Littler: “He inspired me a lot to do this. He’s one of my biggest heroes.
“A lot of people doubted him at the start of the Premier League, and he’s just shown people what he can do – and he’ll be one of the best darts players in the world.
“I think he’s definitely made the sport so much more popular, especially with the younger generation.
“You normally see mostly people playing at the pub, but now many younger people have boards in their home. They play a lot.”
Raymond said he would happily welcome ‘The Nuke’ to his store, adding: “I would invite Luke Littler to play a round.”
The student said he became interested in darts last year after he caught a match on TV following a football game.
And his fascination grew as teen sensation Littler became a household name due to his prolific talents.
Raymond plucked up the courage to tell his dad, Julian Leese, 51, about his idea for a new business as they drove to a darts shop in Liverpool on February 17.
And he then kitted out a room, which previously formed part of his family’s restaurant, in Middlewich, Cheshire, with a huge range of darts paraphernalia.
Raymond said: “There are no darts shops in our area, so I just asked my parents, ‘Shall we open a darts shop?’.
“They said yes on one condition – that I have to lead the project and make it happen the way I want it to be.
“They are quite supportive, but it’s also crazy to let a 14-year-old child open a darts shop.
“It was just a living space before, and we didn’t really do anything with it, so we thought, ‘We might as well do it here.’
“Now we’ve got a lot of stock. We’ve got four different brands of darts, and we also sell boards, cases, shirts, stems, flights and accessories.”
Julian said he was happy to support his son’s vision – and said he may well become a darts champion in the future, just like his hero, Littler.
He said: “Luke managed to achieve his goals at a very young age, which gave Raymond the motivation to do the same thing.
“Luke’s success story showed him that if he wants to achieve something, regardless of how young he is, reaching your goals is possible if you put in the effort, motivating Raymond to open the darts shop.
“Who knows, we may have a new Luke Littler in the house!
“My wife and I are so proud of him getting his project this far. As parents, we fully support and behind him whatever ventures he comes up with.
“All we ask is that he needs to show us the commitment that he is serious and really wants to do it.”
The darts shop is currently only open on the weekends so that Raymond can balance running it with his school studies.
And he said dozens of darts devotees had already visited the store since it was established in June, which also has boards where they can practice their skills.
Raymond added: “All sorts of people are coming – from really young people to everybody.
“We’re also starting to do practice sessions for younger people, juniors, from eight to 18, and we’ve got quite a few people signed up to do that as well.”