Klean Kicks Osmondthorpe: Meet the owner behind Leeds repair company bringing much-loved footwear back to life

Nick Thompson, 29, founded shoe repair company Klean Kicks in March 2020. Last month, he totalled 10,000 cleans and is due to host his own stall at popular dance music festival Mint later this week.

He hadn’t expected to become such a successful business owner. In fact, Nick was “disheartened” to hear he had been let go by his former employer.

Nick had made the jump from events, where he had spent the majority of his time post-18, to recruitment, following a “change of heart”.

He then decided to start his own business. The “lightbulb moment” to specialise in cleaning and repairing shoes occured when he was looking at his own vast collection of trainers.

At first, he began repairing a few pairs a week and while the business was growing, Nick returned to events for a short stint. 

Nick said: “But then my trainer business took off, unexpectedly, like a rocket. I met my partner and we found out she was pregnant, with my daughter Olive, and I said, ‘that’s that. I am done with events, I’m going to give myself a shot and just for it really’. 

“From then, it's just been crazy. I've been doing probably 75 to 100 trainers plus a week now for the last year and a half.

“It just felt like a really overwhelming moment to reach 10,000 cleans to be honest. I was proud - I built this up from nothing in a time where unfortunately some people lost their jobs and were trying to do everything to make ends meet. I had a bit of a lightbulb moment and kind of just ran with it really.”

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In recent years, Nick has expanded from repairing trainers to handbags, purses and clothes, giving back life to items that are much-loved but in need of some care. The process itself is “therapeutic”, Nick said. 

He added: “It’s one of the best feelings ever, which is why I really started doing more real time videos and stuff. People send me messages all the time, saying that it is satisfying to watch.” 

Later this week, Nick will be hosting his first stall at the Mint Festival, a festival he has been attending himself since he was 18. It’s an “unbelievable” achievement for the independent business owner and a testament for the hard work he has been putting in for the last four years.