HE has his own successful company, sponsors a Bolton Wanderers player and is preparing to conquer America. You could say that for 18-year-old sixth form student Chris Woods business is good. For just under a year Turton High School pupil Chris has been at the helm of the family firm -- The Dabblehand Company -- which specialises in supplying football clubs with clips that secure the nets to the goalposts.

And in that time A-Level student Chris has set his mind on making the niche net clip or Fasclip market his own.

Dabblehand has been in the Woods family since 1982 -- started by Chris' grandfather Dennis. The business went to Chris' dad Stephen in 1994 after Dennis passed away.

Last year Mr Woods -- himself the managing director of his own Bolton-based company The Woods Group -- decided to hand the Dabblehand down to Chris.

"Because my father has his own company he couldn't spend the time he wanted to on The Dabblehand Company," said Chris, of Dunscar. "When I took over, the company had lost several major customers and had lost market share to its competitors."

So the race was on for Chris to revive the fortunes of the company, which he did by spending hours working on the business plans from the nerve centre and hub of The Dabblehand empire . . . his bedroom.

Call after call to wholesalers, football clubs and suppliers began to pay off for Chris as he began to win back the big orders by undercutting his competitors.

"I have also overseen the redevelopment of the company's website to include online ordering, made Fasclip into a trademark and turnover has increased by 50 per cent," he said. "It has been a good taste of the real world and great experience."

Never one to miss a marketing opportunity Chris has said thank you to Turton High by sponsoring the Year 9 football team -- their shirts proudly display the Fasclip logo.

And the avid Bolton Wanderers fan also sponsors Reebok favourite Gareth Farelly which gets him a mention in the Trotters programme every week.

"We now supply to football clubs across the country," said Chris. "The furthest away is in Essex, the biggest is Middlesborough FC.

"I don't supply the Wanderers yet but I'm working on it.

"There has also been foreign interest about selling Fasclips in America where I have had communication with major online retailers.

It may come as no surprise that Chris is studying A-Level Business Studies at Turton and wants to go onto university to study Accountancy.

Business Studies teacher Janet Canning said Chris was a major asset to the class.

"It's all been very good experience for Chris who is very dedicated and hard working," she said. "Often when we have a particular question or problem to solve in class I will throw it over the Chris and ask what his company would have done. The school and the PE department are delighted he has sponsored the team and are happy he is doing so well." Cookery teacher Christine has right ingredients for a top team CHRIS is not the only member of the Turton team who is prepared to step into the breach and have a go.

For when food technology teacher Christine Birchby is not concentrating on Gas Mark 7 she is brushing up on the 4-4-2 as manager of the under 14s Year 9 team that Chris is sponsoring. Mrs Birchby admits that up until two years ago she had been purely a fan of the game from the Reebok's stands.

But when the former Year 9 coach left the school the team's future was thrown into question until Mrs Birchby was signed up for the job.

"I had only ever been a spectator before but I decided to give it a go and it has been brilliant," she said.

"I take them through their paces every Thursday afternoon and we have played a number of different systems including the 4-4-2 and the 3-5-2.

"I have a couple of sixth formers who help out with the squad and while the bad weather this year has meant we have not played as many games as we should, the team are doing really well."

And it runs in the family because Mrs Birchby's son Tom is the leading goal scorer for the Year 9s. And in true manager fashion Mrs Birchby said she was over the moon with Chris Woods sponsorship.

"It has certainly help us," she said.

"Chris used to play for the Year 9 team and we are glad to have him on board."