Our Story

It All Started With £1...

What We're All About

I’m Lee, the founder of KLAS UK. This is the story of how we came to be and how one purchase of a 1:64 scale Matchbox model car as a child turned into a passion and in turn that passion turned into the business it is today.

As with most collectors, it all started when when my mother bought me a £1 Matchbox car to keep me happy (and quiet) when we were out shopping as a small child.  I must have been a nightmare on shopping trips as my collection of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars grew and grew. 

As the years passed and toddlers turn into children, children turn into young adults and they in turn become adults… and as a general rule, adults have more money than toddlers and this is when a few cars turn turn into a collection and then a collection turns into an obsession. 

BOY-PLAYING-WITH-CAR

To earn money and to pay the bills and fuel the collection, I spent 26 years in the retail sector as a store manager for a large catalogue shop (that no longer uses catalogues). In 2019, due to Covid19, the High Street changed dramatically as shops closed to customers and only ‘essential’ stores were allowed to trade… long story short, I was made redundant!  It was scary times. Retail was all I knew… Well, retail and collecting 1:64 scale cars.

The Start of Something KLAS

I’d started KLAS a few years earlier so that I could become an Amazon reseller.  KLAS may seem like a strange business name but it was named after the most important thing to me… The family! 

Keeley is my rock that supports me pushes me forward. Lee is me! Amelie is the eldest daughter and then there’s Sophie. KLAS!

Since starting the company, 2 more ‘bundles of joy’ came to be.  The boys, Lincoln and Austin. Is it just a coincidence that they are named after car manufacturers? Maybe 😉

Being made redundant, having the family to support and not knowing what to do is when I thought “why not do what you love?” So KLAS UK was revived and collecting cars and supporting collectors became the focus.