A CELEBRITY singer left a small car dealer “star-struck” after snapping up an expensive motor from his business.

Tom Stoneman, 38, owner of Aspire Automotive Ltd, was left stunned when he found out that music star Rag ‘n’ Bone man had spotted the luxury ride online before making the whopping purchase from his Rayleigh dealership on Rawreth Industrial Estate.

Tom has been running the company for just seven years and is already attracting a celebrity clientele.

Tom shared his disbelief when he found out the Bentley he was selling was going to Rag ‘n’ Bone man.

He added: “I was buzzing. He’s massive at the moment.

“He found the car online personally and then his agent contacted us to say there was a guy who was interested in the car.

“Me and my colleague delivered the car to him. It was good to meet him but it was so surreal.

“I was a bit starstruck.”

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Looking back on how his business has grown, Tom said: “I was born and bred in Rayleigh. I started off working for a BMW garage then I just set off on my own.

“I started with five cars and now we have built it up to about 60 cars.

“I started in a portacabin, took the gamble and now it’s paying off.

“We’ve worked really hard to build up a good reputation and now we’re selling cars to footballers and now Rag ‘n’ Bone man.”

The big sale has left Tom feeling “proud” at what his business has achieved.

He said: “It’s the fact he’s come to us. He chose the vehicle and come to us which is quite a proud achievement for us as a company.

“The fact we have someone of his status makes us proud as a business.”

The business is now hoping to expand by getting more cars and moving to a bigger site.

Tom added: “At the moment we’re in the industrial estate but we want to really do is get up to having 100 cars and expand and build on the customer reputation we have got.”