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At 38, Darren Briggs had to borrow £2.50 from his mother for deodorant before walking to the job centre. He had lost his business, his savings, his relationship - everything. Today, he is the founder and CEO of Ascona Group, a nationwide roadside retail business with 74 forecourts, 910 employees, 350,000+ customers, and over 6 million litres sold every week.

This is not a story about petrol. It's a story about resilience, reinvention, and refusing to roll over.

Darren takes us through a jaw-dropping journey that spans childhood paper rounds in his parents' newsagent in Milford Haven, a catastrophic business failure that cost him £250,000, a brutal David-vs-Goliath legal battle with a corporate giant that nearly broke him, and the maverick decision to chase high growth when most people would have walked away.

From renting a single unloved forecourt in Pembroke to building the UK's seventh-largest independent fuel retailer with £200 million in committed funding - Darren's story proves that rock bottom can be a location without becoming an identity.

In this episode:

🔹 Growing up in a community newsagent and the three golden rules from his father

🔹 Losing everything at 38 - and the £2.50 that changed his mindset

🔹 The Costcutter legal war: 18 months of fighting for survival

🔹 The maverick moment: deciding high growth was the only way out

Surviving COVID when cash dropped from £4 million to £30,000

The health wake-up call: losing five stone and a near-death experience

What comes next: 100 sites, a Sahara trek, and building on his parents' land

Key quote: "Don't be afraid of failure. Be afraid of regret."

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📌 Guest: Darren Briggs, Founder & CEO of Ascona Group

🎙️ Host: Emyr Afan

📺 Show: Inside the Maverick Mind - Ep 28

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 - Introduction

01:36 - From paper rounds to Pam's newsagents

04:18 - Three golden rules from his father

07:08 - Losing his dad and what it taught him

08:09 - The full-pay cancer policy

09:30 - Spotting a gap in the market: BigOil.net

12:46 - The media venture that went up in flames

16:39 - Losing £250,000 and signing on the dole

19:39 - Why he didn't declare bankruptcy

21:20 - Renting Bush Hill: the first forecourt

27:02 - The Costcutter deal that turned toxic

38:50 - The bridge moment: hitting rock bottom

40:06 - "Costcutter Are Fucking Wankers": renaming the company

48:18 - Valentine's Day mediation: drop hands

50:24 - The maverick moment: going for high growth

54:06 - When Barclays pulled the rug

59:06 - Winning Fast Growth 50 - with Barclays as sponsor

1:06:35 - COVID: cash down to £30,000

1:10:05 - The health crisis: losing five stone

1:14:30 - Near-death on the operating table

1:16:49 - What a petrol station becomes when petrol isn't the main event

1:19:43 - Wales Air Ambulance & giving back

1:23:00 - Flying helicopters: the one place he can't multitask

1:23:45 - Maverick Maxims

1:29:10 - Building on his parents' land: the final chapter

1:31:03 - "A maverick is someone who never gives up"

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💬 What would you have done at Darren's lowest point? Let us know in the comments.

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