Michael Bennett, left, and Stuart Avery who have created their own Internet business

The Internet boom is set to make two former East Yorkshire schoolboys millionaires.

Their company has been valued at £20 million and employs 30 people, just two years after they set it up in the cellar of their student house.

Michael Bennett and Stuart Avery, who attended Woldgate School in Pocklington, have established what is believed to be the first e-investment company outside London.

Their client list boasts some of the world's corporate giants, including Orange, Lloyds TSB, Oracle, Motorola and Cisco.

And they are close to signing a £10 million deal with a major national newspaper.

They set up the company in Bristol, where they both attended university, but are planning to open offices in London and Dublin,

Floating their company, called e3 Media, on the Alternative Investment Market could net them a share of an estimated £150 million.

But they still have their feet firmly on the ground and often return to visit friends and family in Pocklington.

Michael, 25, from Full Sutton, said that as schoolboys in East Yorkshire they had never dreamed they would be where they are today.

"It's been fate, but there's been an element of luck as well," he said.

"We met the right people at the right time, but were lucky in securing some lucrative contracts, but had also put in long hours and hard work."

And he said they were not too concerned about fears that the Internet bubble could burst.

"Some of the bad business ideas will go belly-up, but the well thought out ones will continue to prosper - the Internet is here to stay," he said.

Stuart, 25, from Wilberfoss, said: "Our original team now laugh at just how quickly things are moving.

"It wasn't that long ago we were paying them in sandwiches, but now we have got the best of the top talent in the UK working at the sharp end of the latest technology."

Their company, which they own with two other investors, is involved with Internet and CD-rom design and develops Internet strategy for other firms.

Karen Maultby, head of sixth form at Woldgate School, said she was not at all surprised by Michael and Stuart's success.

"They were two lively, super students and I'm absolutely delighted for them," she said.

And she joked: "I just hope they remember who wrote their university references for them."

see also 'Hit the net and make a fortune'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.