A student from Clayesmore School has surprised and captivated supercar owners with his creative meet-ups. Rachael Rowe reports

Eighteen year old Zander Miller has been interested in supercars for a long time. “From a young
age, I watched Top Gear and then got fascinated by photography. Through my photographs of the
supercars, I developed a social media presence and got chatting with some of the owners. I have
spent the last year getting facts together and officially starting a company.”
Zander started with a meet up for supercar owners in November last year. “The first meet up was
for owners only and was a real eye-opener. Forty cars turned up, which was unusual as a lot get
put away for the winter. People started talking to each other about their cars, and it was a lovely day. Some of them hadn’t met each other before.”
I’m wondering how these supercar owners reacted when they found out who had organised the meet-up, as Zander is still at school. Zander smiles: “My dad took me to the first meet up and all these owners went up to him asking if he was Zander, so he said ‘no, I’m just the taxi driver! You want Zander – he’s over there!’.”

Bigger and better
The next meeting was a more significant event with more than 120 cars attending with values between £120,000 and £1.2 million. It was also opened up to the public with food stands available. Zander clearly knows how to attract the cars! “Some of my friends came, and they were impressed. One of my friends turned up with his dad, who has a supercar and he was amazed at the turnout.”

The supercar owner
Most of the owners are happy to talk to people about their cars. One lets people sit in his Ferrari,
for example. “I have spoken to all the owners, either in person or online. My contacts portfolio is extraordinary. I have been able to talk to them about how they made their money to buy the cars, with a lot of people investing or making it through property. Although it is free to meet up at the moment, I’m looking at ways to develop the business.”
For those of us who associate a supercar with a certain type of individual in Central London, Zander is keen to dispel that myth. “There is a minority of people out there who are arrogant, but most people are very down to earth and happy to show their success.”

Next steps for Zander
I’m interested in what Zander currently drives (I’m curious about the insurance premium). “A Skoda Citigo – I’d like a Lamborghini.”
And what do his parents think? “They’re really supportive, and they’re proud of me too. Mum and Dad came to both events.” So what are the next steps for Zander? “I’m off to Bournemouth University to study business management, and after uni who knows. I’ll also be looking at making my business succeed.”

School support
Clayesmore has taken an interest in Zander’s entrepreneurship. The school is supporting him to host a Classic and Supercar Sunday event at Iwerne Minster in August. Already the event has attracted the interest of local companies like the Haynes Museum.
Headteacher Jo Thomson said: “We are very proud to celebrate Zander’s entrepreneurship and lend our support and stunning grounds to launch this inaugural Classic and Supercar Sunday event at Clayesmore.
“Working with a student on a stand-alone event is not something that’s happened at Clayesmore before, but when we realised the scale of the network Zander has built in the supercar world, we jumped at the chance to collaborate with him. He has a bright future ahead, and we hope he will come back in years to come and mentor other Clayesmore pupils. We can’t wait to welcome visitors to Clayesmore to see magnificent cars and soak up the atmosphere in our glorious grounds.”

The Classic and Supercar Sunday event is at Clayesmore School on 14 August.
For further information on the event, please contact the Clayesmore commercial team on 01747 813240 If you would like to exhibit your classic or super car, please register here: classicandsupercarsunday

By Rachael Rowe

Could dialect poet William Barnes have imagined that 220 years later another poet from the same hamlet would create a song heard across the world?

In October last year, Ben Varney (22) received a request through the online freelance marketplace
Fiverr for a song for a client in Japan:
“He provided a beat for me to rap to, and asked me to make a UFC-style video game fighting song. I wrote and recorded the song in about an hour. The client was happy, paid me £120, and I forgot about it.”
Ben lives with his parents in the tiny hamlet of Bagber near Sturminster Newton, the birthplace of Dorset dialect poet William Barnes (1801-86). Currently studying for his Master’s at Bath University, like most students, Ben supplements his income. Along with bar work at Plumber Manor, he sells his abilities as a rapper on Fiverr. Taking commissions through the online marketplace, Ben records at home with a microphone attached to a kitchen table.

A reappearance
Last month, Ben saw that forgotten song begin to appear in his ‘top songs’ online. Unsure how, he searched for it on YouTube and came up with Ready For The War JONAH (play the video below). “I was shocked to see it had over 35,000 views – but that it had been posted without my name and, on top of that, on the New Japan Pro-Wrestling channel, a professional wrestling organisation. To be honest, I usually only get about ten views, half of which are my gran.
“From here I found my track was the official song for a professional Australian professional wrestler named
JONAH. He uses it for every live bout entrance and exit, as well as in any match held by the US wrestling organisation IMPACT.

The song can be heard playing in wrestling arenas in the US (I’ve been played in Las Vegas!), Australia, Japan and more; some of the videos have upwards of 300,000 views.
“It was amazing to find that my voice has been played in arenas all over the world, especially as I had no idea what the song was going to be used for.”
And how much more did Ben make from the song – was it a lucrative deal for the useage on such a huge worldwide stage?
“No, nothing – just that initial £120! Apparently my original client worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. I did have in the contract that I should at least be credited wherever the music was used, but my client then handed the song rights to the wrestler in question, so it all gets very muddy.”

You can follow Ben and hear more of his music on his Instagram account @BenVarneyOfficial

By Laura Hitchcock