Burnley man kick-starts transformative trainer cleaning business

Tom Keelings started his business, TTS Services, from his parents’ house in 2019, which specialises in the cleaning and restoration of designer trainers, as well as accessories like caps and bags.

Starting out, Tom would restore around 20 pairs of shoes a month. Since then, business has grown rapidly as he now takes in around 150 pairs every month and has even worked with current and former Burnley FC players such as Dwight McNeil and Bobby Thomas as well as former Love Island stars.

The magic of his work includes cleaning and restoring investment pieces that his customers have worked hard to purchase, to bring them back to life.

Tom launched TTS Services in 2019 (Image: Tom Keelings)

Tom said: “It’s a good sense of achievement when someone comes to you with a problem such as ruined footwear after a night out and I’ve managed to restore the pair for them back to box fresh for a fraction of what a new pair would be.

“Not everyone can afford a new pair of trainers every time they go wrong, especially at this moment in life with the rising prices of everything, it can be tough.

“But with my service you will revisit the moment where you bought that fresh pair of trainers you had your eye on for weeks or months and worked hard to save for.

"We’ll completely revive them for as low as five or ten per cent of what a new pair would cost.

“This keeps the cycle turning in sustainable fashion which is massively important as it keeps waste levels down.”

Before and after of a pair of trainers cleaned by TTS Services (Image: Tom Keelings)

Tom also offers a service, which his mum helps with, where unwanted items can be donated so he can clean up a pair of shoes to a suitable condition before donating them to charity.

Tom has always been interested in designer clothing and footwear so naturally, made sure to look after them and keep them as clean as possible and then taught himself the art of trainer restoration and refined his skill over the years.

This personal passion sparked Tom’s idea to form TTS Services which started out as a side job before blooming into a full time business with over 5000 followers and hundreds of customers, who he thanks as he says he would “be nowhere without their support”.

With business booming, Tom is on the hunt for a bigger base in a town centre shop.

He said: “Going into the future with TTS I'll aim to keep working hard and growing. In all honesty, I'm not forcing anything I'll just enjoy the journey.

“I'd love to have my own shop people can come down to and pop in. With the shop, if it's big enough I'd love to tap into the market of used clothing to just create a good experience - something different as there is nowhere in Burnley like this and it's what is need.”