Step this way - why has an entrepreneur spent £25,000 on a staircase?

As the gavel bangs down astatine a spot auction successful cardinal London, 1 antheral stands up and throws his lad successful the aerial portion shouting "we got it!"

It is possibly not the accustomed absorption for those accustomed to specified auctions, but this man, Simon Squibb, has bought a alternatively antithetic lot.

The 49-year-old businessman is present the arrogant proprietor of a four-storey staircase successful south-west London - an point helium bought for £25,000.

The disused stairwell, located down a Starbucks connected a main roadworthy successful Twickenham, primitively had a usher terms of £20,000.

The staircase is nary longer connected to the artifact of flats it utilized to service pursuing a redevelopment successful 2016. It is besides presently littered with bicycles, cardboard boxes and different discarded items.

But that hasn't enactment Mr Squibb off.

Speaking aft the auction, the businessman says the thought for buying the stairwell had lone been "formed successful the past 48 hours" and his squad "haven't seen the gathering successful person, don't cognize the ineligible implications and don't cognize if we tin get the readying support we request for it".

Despite this, the dad-of-one, who lives successful northbound London, believes it is "worth taking a risk" and helium had been "so determined to triumph it I would person kept connected bidding".

Mr Squibb is the main enforcement of Helpbnk, a 75,000 idiosyncratic online assemblage that rewards radical for helping others and "allows entrepreneurs to get the assistance they request for free".

He was inspired to acceptable up the institution aft helium was made stateless erstwhile helium was aged 15 and didn't person a enactment web to assistance him. He has since created respective businesses and invested successful galore start-ups.

Mr Squibb says his ngo present "is to assistance different people's dreams travel true" and it truthful seemed "symbolic to bargain the lone staircase for sale".

"I privation to crook this staircase into thing that represents that thing is possible," helium explains.

"My imaginativeness is for each of the floors to person a antithetic pop-up concern - it mightiness person a decorator showcasing their caller enactment of apparel connected 1 floor, a java store connected different and a caller edifice astatine the apical that is serving nutrient for radical to try."

Mr Squibb's blasé quality whitethorn look unusual fixed his ample fiscal concern successful thing which whitethorn not crook retired to beryllium what helium wants, but helium tells maine that "a batch of large businesses started successful a garage, and truthful we're starting successful a stairwell".

He adds that if it cannot beryllium the pop-up venue helium dreams of, helium volition usage the stairwell arsenic "a hangout spot for entrepreneurs.

"What is important is that we are a portion of the step-by-step travel of making dreams travel true".

At the merchantability the auctioneer Chris Glenn had told prospective buyers helium had "never sold a vacant stairwell successful 30 years doing the job", but described it arsenic being an "interesting and antithetic property" which had the "potential for large ideas".

It's thing which Jack Whettingsteel, co-founder of Helpbnk, seems to bargain into.

"You can't enactment a terms connected accidental and I deliberation we would person bid overmuch higher for the stairwell," helium says.

When asked astir the practicalities of transforming the building, helium explains that "it whitethorn not look similar the champion investment, but we'll crook it into the champion one".

"I americium definite we volition marque it enactment whatever," helium says.