A teenage entrepreneur's tennis coaching business is going from strength to strength, one year after it was initially set up.

Eastern Daily Press: Ben Collingwood TennisBen Collingwood Tennis (Image: Ben Collingwood)

Ben Collingwood, 17, put his passion for tennis into practice after completing his GCSEs at Lynn Grove Academy last year, and set up Ben Collingwood Tennis.

Ben, who has played tennis since he was four, started running tennis camps for children last summer and has since expanded what he can offer.

He said: 'The business has now increased a massive amount with more than 170 people in connection with the club between the ages from five to 75 and abilities from beginners to high performance county players.'

And Ben, who attends the The Tennis Academy at Easton and Otley College held an open day last month with more than 100 people turning out to show their interest.

Eastern Daily Press: Ben Collingwood TennisBen Collingwood Tennis (Image: Ben Collingwood)

He said: 'It's great to see this many people interested in tennis. Summer camps ran again this year for six days and we beat our record of last year with 29 participants - lots of fun and lots of developments in tennis for this area!'

But Ben is particularly proud of training up two students of his as coaches themselves, with Ben Sayer and George Gray now certified community coaches.

'I like to offer as many opportunities to the younger generations as hopefully they will continue to coach and push tennis forwards in the area!'

In his own progression Ben had a successful summer and competed in regional and national tournaments. He said it had been hard to juggle college and competing.

'But they're both going very well,' he said. 'This summer has been huge for me.'

Ben thanked his sponsors, Chico's Restaurant and East Coast Aerials and encouraged anyone to get in touch either by calling 07733 238322, emailing bencollingwoodtennis@gmail.com or visiting www.bencollingwoodtennis.com