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Schoolboy Tommie Rose, who made £14,000 selling sweets, now selling Lucozade bottle on eBay

The 15-year-old is selling a 'signed' bottle of the orange-flavoured drink on the online auctioneer

Antonia Molloy
Monday 24 November 2014 11:51 GMT
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The sale closes at 4.13pm on 25 November
The sale closes at 4.13pm on 25 November (eBay)

A teenager who made £14,000 running a “black market” of chocolates, crisps and soft drinks at his school is now trying his luck on eBay.

Tommie Rose, 15, is selling a “signed” bottle of orange-flavoured Lucozade on the online auctioneer to raise funds towards his university fees – and the current highest bid stands at over £150,000.

According to the Manchester Evening News (MEN), the teenager is facing suspension from Buile Hill High School, in Salford, for breaching the school's healthy eating policy, and for slacking off his studies.

Rose, from Ordsall, started selling snacks three years ago, for which he was suspended at his previous school the Oasis Academy.

But his entrepreneurial spirit won’t be crushed and the teenager has set his sights even higher.

Writing on eBay Rose said: “Here you [are] bidding on 1 bottle of orange Lucozade signed by me, Tommie Rose. I'm the young businessman who has been all over the press in last few days in every national newspaper and trending on Twitter and Facebook. This is a limited piece as I am only signing 2. Happy bidding.”

The drink has so far received 137 bids with the highest standing at £150,100. The sale closes at 4.13pm tomorrow.

Rose, who loves Dragons Den and The Apprentice, has set up a trust fund with his earnings to help pay for a business degree at an elite university.

His parents, who describe themselves as 'council estate born and bred', say they would struggle to pay university tuition fees.

The school's head teacher, James Inman, however, told The Independent that Rose had been neglecting school for his burgeoning business.

He added: “We admire this pupil's entrepreneurship but school is not the place to set up a black market of fizzy drinks, sweets and chocolates.”

Having closed down his business, Rose told MEN that he plans to give the majority of his remaining stock to the homeless in Manchester city centre.

He also said he has had a few job offers since making the headlines.

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