Entrepreneur reveals how ADHD has become his secret ingredient as he builds up his butchers retail empire

Entrepreneur James Morgan, who runs Stilton Butchers, says managing his ADHD probably is helping to drive his business success.

Renown Peterborough business owner James Morgan has revealed one of the secrets of his success and aims to give hope to people struggling with ADHD.

Mr Morgan, owner of Stilton Butchers, which recently moved into new £200,000 plus premises in Axis Park, Manasty Road, Orton Southgate, says that having ‘well-managed ADHD’ has given him a ‘unique advantage’ in the business world.

Poised to open a new retail branch in Newcastle and two more in the South West, Mr Morgan said that his ADHD is definitely helping him to thrive in the business world.

James Morgan during his ice hockey playing days - here in action with Phantoms against Bracknell Bees

Now he has created a social media page called Hurricane Minds UK that allows people affected with ADHD, and their loved ones, to reach out to him over Instagram.

He said: “'My mind thinks a hundred miles an hour, and I honestly believe if you channel ADHD, it allows you to think differently, outside the box.

'It's solutional thinking, and I truly believe if you control the crazy ideas it throws at you and focus on what you want, anything is achievable. Especially in the business world.”

But it has not always been that way and he cautions that his views of ADHD as an adult are ‘conditionally positive’.

He says that as a child ADHD was a negative force and that he would daydream in school, get into fights, get frustrated and emotional, be a bad loser, and leave hobbies a week after picking them up.

That changed at the age of nine when he discovered hockey and found it was a sport into which he could channel all his energies

By 13, he had a hockey scholarship to the Notre Dame boarding school in Canada, where he spent four years.

He said: “I was playing on the best team at the school. Life was great, and my structure was on point. There were signs that the life I was living was the perfect remedy for my ADHD.”

He has since moved on from his hockey career and says he has been formally diagnosed with ADHD and takes daily medication and regularly speaks to a therapist.

But he says ADHD lets him be creative, often spending nights thinking about the best ways he can market his business.

And he also believes that thanks to the disorder, he performs well under pressure and does not take no for an answer.

"It makes me better because it's like I have superpowers. I can have three workweeks in one week or workout three times a day,” he said.

But he says that managing ADHD successfully is vital it if is to be harnessed for productive uses.

Managing ADHD can mean avoiding coffee and products that contain caffeine and having a regular sleep schedule.

Now his goal is to use his social media site to build a supportive community for people dealing with ADHD.

James said: 'Everyone is different, and ADHD lives in each of us in different ways.

“So, the first thing I would tell someone young, looking for ways to turn it into an advantage, would be to do some soul searching."