'I was a criminal living in a tent in the woods... now I run a £5million law firm'

A man who in a woodland now runs his own worth £5million.

Adam Pope, 43, was caught joyriding cars and holding illegal raves as a , and narrowly avoided jail after driving whilst disqualified several times. He admitted he was "on a self-destructive trail". His parents, from Bolton, Greater , became fed up of Adam's behaviour and asked him to leave.

After sofa surfing at a friend's house, Adam became homeless and slept on streets, park benches and in the garden of his family home in a hectic six-month period. Fearing for his safety on the streets, Adam decided to steal a tent from his parent’s garage and sleep in a local woodland. Despite his homelessness, Adam continued to attend college to finish his business course.

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Recalling his troubles, Adam said: "I was on a self-destructive trail. I’ve always been a nice person – I was never a bad person – I just never knew why I was going down this path or what the cause was. I came from a good background; my parents are still together. It’s not like I came from a broken home.

"I walked the streets at night just to pass the time. By the end of the night, I would have walked 20 miles instead of going to sleep. I would just walk and walk and walk. There was an element of safety. I was paranoid about staying in the same place for any length of time. I would sleep in the back garden of my mum and dad’s house and leave before they woke up."

But a lecturer at his college heard on the grapevine Adam had been sleeping rough and helped the student. Eventually, his grandmother became aware of the plight and invited him to stay with her.

He tried to get things back on track, even managing to find employment, but was fired from every job over poor punctuality and other issues. Adam eventually started working at his father’s business as a tea boy – a humble role which finally made him realise he wanted more out of life.

At the age of 27, Adam started a financial services dispute company before going on to launch Spencer Churchill five years later, a law firm based in Bolton. The company specialises in corporate law, commercial mediation, dispute resolution, employment law, real estate, intellectual property and private client services. Incredibly, the business now turns over £5million.

Although the business is already hugely successful, Adam has no intention of slowing down – aiming to scale the firm even further in both revenue and size, reports.

But the entrepreneur says he probably wouldn’t be in his position today if it weren’t for the hardships he’s had to overcome in life. “It’s not where you started, it’s where you finish,” he added. “I’ve had a very difficult early few years. It would have ruined a lot of people.”