From then on, the aspiring mechanic had to live off his initiative, scouring Merseyside for a garage that would train him, before working his way up to a managerial position by the age of 18.
Dumbell has had many jobs since. But it was his success at passing his enterprising spirit on to others that earned him a Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion earlier this year.
It all started in 1986 when, buoyed by the success of local residents' involvement in an estate improvement initiative, Dumbell set up a housing co-operative with fellow residents on the Tower Hill estate in Kirby.
The co-operative had a budget of 835,000 to build 26 houses, and the venture gave Dumbell a glimpse of the untapped entrepreneurial potential of ordinary people. This in turn led the co-operative in 1990 to acquire a government grant to convert a former council depot into 30,000 square feet of office space. The Knowsley Development Trust was born.
Fast-forward 15 years and Dumbell, as chief executive officer of the Knowsley Development Trust, is overseeing the first steps of the Knowsley Enterprise Academy. He developed the idea to meet Knowsley's most pressing issue - youth unemployment, which affects an estimated one in three of the borough's under-25s. "We want to stop more young people joining the conveyor belt of failure," says Dumbell. "We need to start with young people as early as 11 and change education."
He explains: "Teachers have often gone to school, college, university, then back to school, without knowing anything about real industry. Or they have a rather narrow view of it."
The academy, a charitable trust for 11- to 25-year-olds, works with organisations including The Prince's Trust, Young Enterprise and local schools, against a backdrop of support from the 106 businesses renting office space from Knowsley Development Trust.
The academy offers services including "incubator" office space for young people starting up businesses, business mentors trained by The Prince's Trust and referrals to organisations that can provide business start-up grants. At the heart of the academy's work is a four-strong team delivering projects including industry visits for young people from the final year of primary school.
This is a vital area of work for Dumbell, who is pushing for enterprise education to be fully absorbed into subjects across the curriculum. "Enterprise education is relevant to everything," he says.
"Take art, for example. Van Gogh didn't go to a labour exchange and look for a job - he was an entrepreneur. We want to use soft skills to get young people involved in the harder skills of business."
Dumbell wants to demystify education. "We've employed one of the young entrepreneurs from the incubators to sit down with young people and build computers and source parts," he says.
The academy has worked with about 3,000 young people in its first year and Dumbell hopes the young people can play a role in reducing adult unemployment by educating their parents on the options available to them.
In the shorter term, he will be working with Knowsley Borough Council in implementing 14 to 19 reform. And he is largely optimistic. "We've never been better in terms of educational opportunities," he says. "If I'd had all that 1,000 years ago when I was in school, I'd be a millionaire by now."
FYI
- Steve Dumbell, a 48-year-old father of three, is chief executive of Knowsley Development Trust - an economic development organisation set up to facilitate the creation and expansion of business
- The trust sponsors the Knowsley Enterprise Academy, which formally opened in May this year, with funding of 300,000. The 1.2m capital costs were split between the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund
- The Queen's Awards for Enterprise Promotion recognise those who encourage others in business. The deadline for 2006 nominations is 31 October
www.queensawards.org.uk.
