Peterborough artist’s journey from council estate to Dragons’ Den

After leaving school he worked in factories, “but I needed more, so I worked my way into a health and safety role”.

“When I joined that job, I thought it would be the last job I’d ever do,” says Murdoch.

“It was for a prestigious British brand that made yachts. It felt like the pinnacle of my life, like I’d achieved something.”

He quietly built an art business in his spare time, until one day his director asked to speak with him about his future.

“I actually told him I was thinking of leaving… no-one really knew what I did on the side. When I told him I was thinking of leaving to become a street artist, he just laughed.”

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Later that day, he says he was offered an £8,000 pay rise, which he accepted. But three months later, he found himself quitting his job for good.

“My gut was telling me I don’t want to get to 40 years old and wonder ‘what if?’. I thought I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

“It was the scariest thing I’d ever done. I had a mortgage, a child, my wife was on maternity leave. She asked me if I could do it and I said, ‘I think so’.”

Since then, Murdoch’s business has taken him around the world, but he says he still identifies as working class.