Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard and multi-millionaire, Matt Fiddes, flies into Belfast to inspire young entrepreneurs

Mr Fiddes, who was Jackson’s personal bodyguard for 10 years will be teaching budding entrepreneurs how to ‘set up’ and ‘scale up’ a business. The serial self-made entrepreneur is said to be worth in excess of £40 million from to his business interests, and has built up the largest privately owned property portfolio in the South West of England.

Mr Fiddes, who’s grandfather was an Irish Weightlifting Champion and was picked for the Rome Olympics, is now a sought after business mentor who was voted one of the top 50 entrepreneurs in the UK.

He will spend the weekend with young entrepreneurs who have travelled from as far as Spain to attend the event in Belfast and they will personally receive advice from Mr Fiddes himself.

Mr Fiddes, 42, hopes to open over 500 new franchises of his martial arts brand by the end of the year. With over 120,000 students and 1,068 schools across the globe already, his martial arts business (Matt Fiddes Martial Arts) is the biggest and most successful in the world.

He said: “I am really excited to be visiting Northern Ireland for the first time. I have big plans to help local people here grow their businesses following the pandemic.”

He hopes to inspire people that launching or building a business post Covid-19 pandemic is possible on a big scale.

Mr Fiddes’ business suffered a 35% loss due to the effects of Covid-19 but he pulled through stronger than before by working around the clock, innovating, motivating and micro-managing his team. He is now focused on helping others and will also be focusing on financial aspects, both business and personal, which is something that he strongly believes in.

He also hopes to collaborate with ambitious business owners on new ventures in Northern Ireland.

Speaking out about entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland, he continued: “Entrepreneurs often forget about Northern Ireland but I see huge potential. I was privileged to hang around with mega stars and billionaires from such a young age which only occurred after a chance meeting, but those people were invaluable mentors to me, and still are.

“It made me aware from a young age that ‘your network is your net worth’, and the people you surround yourself with will have a major influence on your career and life choices. So, I hope I can offer a chance for budding entrepreneurs of Northern Ireland to be part of my network, community and offer some insider tips and motivation.

“I hope to come back every few months to also visit schools and inspire teenagers that they can achieve whatever they want to do, even if they ‘fail’ at school like I did, anything is possible.”

Matt Fiddes will be teaching his first business event this Saturday, October 23 in Belfast.

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