 Peyton attended Summerhill College in Sligo until he was 17 when he left home and went to New York where he was employed in a range of jobs including digging artesian wells, roofing and as a waiter.On returning home he gained a scholarship to Leicester Polytechnic, where he studied textiles.After two years at Leicester Polytechnic, Peyton moved south and with a partner opened two nightclubs, "The Can" in Brighton – favourably reviewed during 1983 by "The Face" magazine – and later "Raw" in London.