a few pints with
Tom Birchy
Interview and photography by Charles Reeve.
Tom Birchy is the self-proclaimed king of Leeds, supervillain and music mogul. At 22 years of age and within a year of leaving University he finds himself now living an outlandish lifestyle, whizzing around the city in a 50 year old beach buggy and residing in a top floor penthouse. I met up with him for a few cold ones and to find out what the bloke has actually been up to.
Hi Tom, how’s it going?
All good bro, had a lovely day, selling drones in the daytime, drinks with you in the evening. God bless.
So shall we start from the beginning, where did you grow up?
Bloody hell. Born in Hatfield, three months old moved to Sydney, Australia. From there moved to Dubai, came back to the UK – parents divorced. Lived in Windsor, went to St George’s School at Windsor castle for a while, rubbed shoulders with royalty, that was fun. Parents actually properly divorced then and money ran out. Lived in Burnham for a while until I was eight. Then moved to Singapore, moved back from Singapore and lived in Windsor again, then back to Singapore. Then Thailand, then Kuala Lumpur, back to Singapore again, kicked out of a school in Singapore went to a boarding school in Wales – Christ College Brecon until I was 15 and a half. Got kicked out of there. Moved to Hereford with my Mum. Home schooled myself through GCSE’s got eight A*’s and two A’s, banging. Then got a place by myself and setup my first company, then came to Leeds when I was 18.
And when you moved here what were your intentions? What was your first business venture?
I thought I was the big dogs bollocks. For the previous 2 years I had been running my business from Hereford, making about 40 grand a year aged 16..17 and I honestly thought I was going to take over the world.
Tom at his local, Whitehall Bar & Grill
And the business in Hereford was?
Events.
What sort of events was it?
Well the first company was called Bassface promotions. That was 16+ raves in Hereford which was inspired by my earlier career of setting up house parties and charging people to come. It grew from that point.
Did these house parties take place in your house then or somewhere else?
Well my mum always used to live in these sick gaffs, not because she was rich but because she had a real knack for finding these properties that need people to live in. Whether it was for insurance policies or something like that. We used to have big 100 person raves in the house, charge them a tenner for entry and free drinks. It was good. A good way to form a business in your teenage years.
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So when you came to Uni, that sort of evolved into events, did it not?
Well there’s a bit before that. There was the Bassface events from 16 to 18 that was the bedrock of my current business. That was a limited company even then. I did 12 events before I came to Uni, 11 of them sold out. I made six grand profit from one evening that hadn’t even happened and I was sat there as a 16 year old who had previously been selling weed and I realised that I had actually just made six grand from an idea. No one had told me an idea had value before. I realised that I could think of something and, money. That was the stroke.
"I honestly thought I was going to take over the world."
Since then however, you’ve amassed quite an impressive following on TikTok. Would you like to speak about that?
It was November 2020. My business partner Ed said to me, “we need to get some influencers involved.” “Let’s get some TikTok stars.” We approached this guy with 330,000 followers on his account and he had a marketing agency and so on. They were trying to charge me £500 to do a post. But then I thought about it and thought to myself, “yeah, I could do that.” I don’t want to give £500 to anyone mate. I want £500 in my pocket, to pay for my wine. So I started a TikTok and it took me a while to get the rhythm, it did. But within a month I had 2500 followers. Then within 2 months I had 10,000 followers. Now we’re six months down the line and I have 41,000 followers with 9 million people watching my videos every month. I’m being paid £550 a month by TikTok and the creator fund and I walk around a city where everyone fucking knows me as the TikTok guy and it’s nuts. It honestly shakes my foundations because 6 months ago no one knew me really. And now it would seem, that it’s getting there, that everyone does.
And do you see your TikTok growing past this?
I got a 2:1 in law from the University of Leeds. When I hit 10k on TikTok, that achievement mattered more to me than achieving that law degree. Now you can say that about my character, but that achievement was the first time in my life where I really achieved an actual level of recognition.
And aside from TikTok, on the other hand you’re also now selling…?
Drones. Crazy technology aren’t they? I bought one in the first lockdown. £2500 drone. My own money, I loved it. Whizzed it around Leeds. Whizzed it around the coastline. Took it out to Santorini with me and my ex-misses, following us around on our quad bike. Drones are fucking sick mate. But then when I was sat here right, for almost a year with just my brain in my old house, with just my thoughts, festering. With my parents telling me, “Hey Tom, you should probably get a job.” I listened. I didn’t want to work for some Law firm. I didn’t want to work for some IT firm. No, I don’t want to do any of that shit. What do I want to work for? Drones. Why is the UK’s largest drone company in Leeds? Okay, I’ll apply to them. The job pays alright. The job interests me. And I’ve never had anyone in my life be my employer, never. . This drone job is something different. I look at the world with an international outlook. I grew up in SE Asia. SE Asia loves two things, money and technology. Drones are a massively emerging technology. The fact I’ve managed to weasel my way into the UK’s largest drone company is a godsend. For me it’s not really about the money. If I could do a year at that company, I’ve got a year at a tech company- a drone company. You say the word drone and you think about militaries firing missiles from up in the sky blowing up cities. Good. And I want to be associated with that, because I go and speak to a potential clients, “yeah I worked in the drone industry for a year.” They look at me like I was part of Lockheed Martin or Boeing or BA systems. That’s why I like drones.
And I guess selling the drones has helped you achieve where we’re currently sat. Can you describe where we currently are?
Yes. A luxury Leeds penthouse, just by the river. I look out to my left and I see where I came from. I see Hyde Park, I see it and remember three years of my life that I had been so depressed and so deeply down trodden and ruined. Then I look straight ahead and I see the city, fuck the city. I look to my right and see LGI, my ex-missus works there, god bless her. I look to my right and see my old house, it was three months since I finished University that I moved to LS1, one of the most prestigious postcodes in all of Leeds. I did 6 months in my old flat and I thought “it’s not for me, it’s not big enough, it’s not grand enough.” I walked out of it one day and saw these penthouses nestling up the river and thought, “yep, I’m going to have one of those.” So I got one, and I tell you what, this isn’t the end. Because I look over there and I see Bridgwater Place, and I see it, and I see where the footballers live and I see where the fucking celebrities live and I see it in my eyes. No, this 22 year old boy will get there. Trust me. I sound like a madman when I say it, I know I do. But this madman delivers.
You say the amulet round your neck aids you in your success. Is this true?
When I was 20, I was in Thailand with an ex-girlfriend called Kim, she was so sweet but just not for me. We were in Chang-Mai, the northern city. Inside a temple called Chedi Luang, and I felt that was time I wanted an amulet. I’d always wanted one growing up as a boy in SE Asia, but that was time that I was drawn towards it. I went and acquired it, I wasn’t able to choose it but they gave it to me and I gave them a donation. I didn’t know what the amulet meant but I went on my way. But all around Thailand people would hold it and feel it in their hands and say, “Chedi Luang! Chedi Luang!” I’d say, “yes, yes.” “It’s for speaking!” “When you talk, people listen.” And it turns out this amulet is a very famous amulet and a very rare amulet. So rare that when you talk, people listen. I believe it brings me all sorts of luck and all sorts of success. Since I’ve had this round my neck my life has changed. I’ve gone from being just a boy who was a bit tapped and posted too much on social media to someone who actually… you know. There’s something here and I do attribute that amulet to guiding me to success. I’m a very religious guy. I believe in spirituality, I believe in religion, I believe in god, the Christian god with a beard and on the cloud. But also at the same time I believe in spirituality, I believe in the eastern religions. I believe that karma exists. I believe that the Buddhist way of life is a great way to live. This amulet has changed my life I mean that.
"You say the word drone and you think about militaries firing missiles from up in the sky blowing up cities. Good."
Tom looking out at Leeds from his balcony.
Tom stood in front of his "luxury Leeds penthouse."
And finally what’s your relationship with Nigel Farage?
2015, I started working for UKIP in North Herefordshire. Eventually in 2016 I became a youth coordinator for UKIP in the West-Midlands. By 2017 I developed a relationship with the people who were higher up than me in the party, that eventually led me to dinners and evenings with Nigel Farage. Until the point where we met in Devon, shared a couple of drinks and had a wonderful evening. I must say, out of all the people I’ve met in my life, Nigel Farage is the one who’s made the most lasting, memorable impact on me. Not because he’s an extravagant fellow who just sets himself apart. It was almost like going for a pint, with a grandad I never knew I had. In fact, to add to that point, my grandad used to work with him on the metal exchanges in London. My grandad was 20 years his senior and I believe they shared quite a few colourful exchanges on those metal floors.
And anything you’d like to add?
Yeah, think big, think really big. Just keep thinking big, keep your brain thinking big thoughts and the algorithm that is your life will match up. If you think sad and you think small thoughts and you think shit thoughts, your life will be shit. If you think big and extravagant and decadent thoughts your life will be big and extravagant and decadent and I mean that. It sounds so crass if you’ve never experienced that but I mean that wholeheartedly. If you think big and dream big you will achieve big.
To keep up with Tom’s antics and his larger than life personality, you can follow him across his social media platforms.
Instagram: @tom.birchy
TikTok: @tombirchy