Meet Birmingham's Car Boot Kings whose idea has become a TV hit - and made them £3m

James Taroni and Andrew Walsh's business is seeing huge demand with people looking to 'supplement' their income

They started their car boot business aged just 17 - now 30 years later, childhood best friends James Taroni and Andrew Walsh have a booming business which has become a TV hit. Hailing from Sutton Coldfield, the pair have been dubbed the Car Boot Kings in a new documentary on Channel 4.

The programme delves into the world of their car boot business, which can rake in almost 10,000 people at a time. James, 48, whose dad used to own a scrap metal firm in Birmingham, said demand went "crazy" after Covid - and that trend has continued during the cost-of-living crisis with people looking to make extra money.

The pair's business, called E-Boot Markets and Car Boots, operates several sites around north Birmingham, including one near J9 of the M42. Dad-of-five James said people are discovering that car boots are a "very easy way" to supplement their income and described traders and customers as an extended part of their "family".

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And he said during the tough economic climate, they are letting in people for free if they are "genuinely skint". Eboot Car Boot charges £10 for a car pitch, £15 to £20 for a van pitch and £1.50 per car for visitors.

James said: "Andrew and I started the car boot 31 years ago. We were 17, young lads, trying to earn a few quid. We just wanted to better ourselves with this car boot sale. We are only local lads from Sutton Coldfield, we have lived here our entire lives, born in Good Hope.

"It has taken us this long to truly be established. It has just exploded, in the last five to 10 years. After Covid, especially, we have found it has gone from being Division One to the Champions League.

"It's our city, in a field. If you watch the documentary or go on our socials, you can see the community spirit has gone absolutely bonkers, it is fantastic. Last weekend, we had like 8,000 people in the field, in December, in the week before Christmas, trudging round, trying to earn a few quid and trying to save money.

"We are trying to spread the word, people are skint, we are even letting people in if they are skint to give them a chance. We are about the community. We want to earn money, but we don't mind helping people and that's what's made us stick out amongst everyone else."

He added: "We care, quite simply, we care about whether they are selling or buying, we look after people. They are not just faces, they are our friends and family. We are like one big family now. We accept anyone, from any culture, any race, any creed, any sex. Kids, adults, nans. Everyone, dogs, animals. It is a fun day out at our car boot."

James said times of financial hardship often see more people flock to their car boot and that rings true for the current economic climate. He said: "The cost of living is massive, people can't afford to live at the moment on their one wage, so they need to supplement their income. I feel like it is a very easy way.

"You'll think 'what can I do?' and go through your house, 'I don't use that anymore, I don't use that, I do not need for that', a lot of people clear out. That one man's rubbish really is another man's treasure."

One of their earlier customers was Terry Herbert, who bought a metal detector from their Coppice Lane, Middleton site, 20 years ago and went on to discover the Staffordshire hoard. James said: "He's a multi-millionaire now, but he still comes to the car boot every Saturday and Sunday. There are so many stories like that, we have had people buy teapots for £2 and get £80,000 at Christie's. There are so many treasures you don't realise are in people's attics."

James and Andrew began holding car boots on Sundays in their earlier days but noticed there weren't any on Saturdays, so they began opening on Saturdays. James said over time, they've just "just swallowed up any competition".

While their business is booming, their documentary Car Boot Kings on Channel 4 is also proving very popular - so much so that the streaming service even overloaded at one point, said James. Since the documentary aired on Monday, December 11, James said he's been inundated with messages. And other productions are also reportedly interested in their company, including Netflix.

He said: "I have had 5,000 messages since last Monday. I have had to employ my children to reply to people, I can't keep up with it, it is just bonkers. Channel 4 has just messaged us saying they've taken their streaming service down, you can't stream it at the moment because they're having such an overload. Channel 4 has even been approached by a company in America and even Netflix, they are loving it."

James added: "Me and Andrew have known each other since we were eight. We are best pals from primary school, I was best man at his wedding, he was best man at mine. I'm so blessed to have a pal (like him), we work well as a team. We are bit Laure and Hardy really."

To watch the documentary, click here. At present, their car boots are being held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Follow them on Facebook by clicking here.