Schoolboy's tax disc reminder business makes him thousands of pounds in just weeks

A schoolboy had the genius idea of sending out reminder tax discs to jog forgetful driver's memories - leading to one of the UK's fastest growing businesses.

Harvey Millington, 13, sends out thousands of paper discs to motorists who run the risk of being hit with government fines when they forget to renew their tax or MOT.

Since the rule change last year, hundreds of people have found themselves unwittingly clamped for having an untaxed vehicle.

Harvey's business, Tax Disc Reminder, has been such a hit that he has made £3,000 from selling the paper reminders at £4 each. After just eight weeks of trading, the business has exploded, with Harvey receiving 400 orders in one week alone.

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The year eight student, from Taunton, Somerset, said: "I'm alright with it. The money is nice. I haven't got any plans for it yet though.

"I've had quite a few teachers asking me about it but my friends don't really know too much. Sometimes I am working quite hard. I'm probably the richest person in my class. I'm hoping to carry on for a while."

Harvey came up with the idea after noticing his father's car no longer had a tax disc in the window last October. He asked how people remembered to pay the bill when it went out of date, and what happened if they missed the deadline, leading to the schoolboy having a brainwave.

Research soon revealed that in March alone, 6,000 people missed the deadline to renew their tax, were clamped at had to pay between £500 and £800. That figure involves a fine, release fee, back-tax, and the possible added hit of having to pay for a new MOT.

So impressed with his stroke of genius, father Howard Millington fronted the business £2,000 to set up - paying for the website, cutting device, eight different disc designs and several pieces of advertising.

^{Harvey sends out the discs which drivers can put in their windscreen (SWNS)}

Mr Millington also helped register the business as a limited company because of Harvey's age, but apart from that, it has all been done by the schoolboy.

Motorists enter their details, such as address and registration, online before Harvey looks up all the dates.

He then sends them one of the eight different designed tax discs, including the popular Welsh dragon and Batman symbol, which drivers can put in their windscreen.

Mr Millington, 46, who also runs his own business, said: "He's only a 13-year-old. He doesn't go to the best school but he is really switched on.

"I think he has got quite a few girlfriends right now. I do drive him hard. I don't give him nothing for nothing. You have to work. That's my philosophy and he has to follow it. He likes computers and computers science so he is having a great time at the moment."

Since its inception, the company has been getting steadily more and more orders, starting at around 50 a week, rising to 400.

So far, Harvey has made more than £3,000 by charging £4 a time, with a profit margin well in excess of 50 per cent.

^{Digital replacements for the tax disc stays with the driver, rather than vehicle (Getty)}

Mr Millington thinks the business has been so successful because of the money-making nature of the DVLA's new scheme.

He added: "It's a money-making scheme. I have read about people who look up details on the internet and then clamp and fine you. It's ridiculous. It's doing so well. He's going to be on about four or five grand when he finishes the newest order. Everybody said to me, what does he want to do with tax discs, you don't even need them.

"But we have had a few people phone up because they have been clamped. They are £500 out of pocket. £4 is nothing in comparison. There are 22 million cars on the road. The DVLA say they will send a reminder but what happens if you move or the postman loses it?"

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The company is getting orders at such a rate that it has even discussed the idea of making it fully automatic, with orders made online, a computer printing the disc and sending it out.

However, it would cost nearly £30,000 to make that a possibility, so Harvey is beginning to save.