04 December 2023 , 21:51
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A bricklayer who left school at 16 with no GCSEs is now earns £10,000 a month and drives a £30k sportscar - 'by earning £1 a brick'.
Kurt Malpass, 26, fell in love with bricklaying after being put on a course "for kids who don't listen" at Blythe Bridge High School. After qualifying, he honed his trade working for a company before going self-employed at 19. Now savvy Kurt, from Tean, earns up to £800 a day and was able to buy his first £110,000 three-bed home while still a teenager. He drives a £30,000 Audi S8 and earns up to £10,000 a month. He shared videos about his work on TikTok and Instagram, where he boasts he earns '£1 a brick'. In actual fact, it's 62p a brick - but it still enables him to live an affluent lifestyle he never thought possible as a youngster without conventional qualifications.
He now drives a £30,000 Audi (Kurt Malpass / SWNS)Kurt, who studied building engineering Stoke-on-Trent College, said he still loves it years on - and has no plans to stop. He told StokeonTrentLive: "I'm quite clever but subjects like French, Spanish and geography never interested me. When I went to do bricklaying, I fell in love with it and I was naturally good at it too."
"I bought my first house at 19 - if you're willing to work hard and put in the hours you can earn ridiculous money. Being a bricklayer, people don't look at you like you're a clever person. People think it's easy and we're overpaid for what we do - but it's a skill and not everyone can do it."
At 16, Kurt had a tough time at school and was even once kicked out for his behaviour in class. He was put on a vocational pathway and got his level one qualification, but was such a whizz he skipped other levels and went straight to a site. Three years later, he was experienced enough to go it alone and has worked on everything from new builds to million-pound mansions. Charging 62p per brick, he makes £500 for a full day - but can makeup to £800 if he works a long enough shift.
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He earns between £8,000 and £10,000 per month - and people reckon he's fibbing when they find out how much he makes. Kurt said: "When people see me doing it on Tiktok they think it's easy, and that they could do it, but its not. I also get a lot of comments saying 'my family member is a bricklayer, they don't earn this money'. But if you're willing to work hard and put the hours in, you can earn ridiculous money."
At the tender age of 19, he bought his first house and now at 26, he drives a swanky £30,000 Audi sports car which he paid for in full. He's got big dreams of owning a Lamborghini one day and is also considering investing in property for an extra income.
He added: "I love it, I find it therapeutic. I couldn't imagine where I'd be without bricklaying."
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