Starting a business just a few years after leaving school would probably be one of the last things on the minds of most teenagers, but that is exactly what Welsh entrepreneur Scott James did.

And the owner of award-winning Coaltown Coffee, which opened in Ammanford nine years ago, will be sharing the secrets of his success in the fourth edition of the Welsh Business Heroes series.

This month’s one-hour webinar, hosted by NatWest Cymru, Newsquest and Landsker Business Solutions, is held on Eventbrite this Thursday at noon.

Previous episodes of the series have featured Jonathan Williams of Pembrokeshire Beach Food Co, Fran Vaughan of Swansea-based Ickle Bubba and In The Welsh Wind distillery’s Ellen Wakelam.

Welsh Business Heroes is designed to inspire, educate and encourage current and future small and medium-sized enterprise owners to create, build and grow their own businesses here in Wales.

Landsker’s Jeremy Bowen Rees will speak to Mr James about his business, which he founded in 2013 at the age of just 19.

Working from his parent’s garage with a home-made roaster, his ambition was to bring a new industry to the former coal mining community in Ammanford.

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Coaltown Coffee is now one of Wales’s highest growth food and drink businesses, is multi-award-winning and thrives with significant ambition and expansion plans.

Since starting, Coaltown Coffee has gone from strength to strength, now employing 15 full-time members of staff and opening a dedicated roasting and visitor experience in Ammanford.

The business saw sales with its 275 wholesale customers come to an almost immediate standstill when the Covid pandemic began two years ago.

However, having enhanced its digital presence, Mr James saw his online sales quadruple during the first lockdown.

To attend Thursday’s event, register at eventbrite.co.uk/e/welsh-business-heroes-tickets-265034825297.