Case Study 5 - Neil & Sharon Painter - Astra Tree and Garden Services
Neil was facing redundancy from his Manufacturing Supervisor's role and Sharon was in childcare whilst running a Bouncy Castle business during the summer. They both wanted to set up a business working together. As Neil had already done some tree work for friends, they decided to start a tree surgery and garden maintenance business.
Neil had already attended various tree surgery NPTC courses at Reaseheath, with the investment of family savings. However, this was proving expensive and Sharon also wanted to become trained in tree surgery.
The Rural Skills Broker from REG worked with the Painters and put them in touch with their local business start up agency, where they checked that their business idea was feasible and were advised on how to develop a business plan. Using the plan, the Rural Skills Broker then helped the Painters identify the best training options available from several local training providers to help their skill needs. Part-funding was then secured, as well as access funding, to enable both Neil and Sharon to attend the training together. They have completed the Royal Forestry Society Certificate in Arboriculture (part-time) at Reaseheath College and have built up their business now to the point where they are employing a local tree surgeon to fulfil business demands.
As a result of attending the training, Sharon says, 'I feel that having the confidence to speak to customers and advise them on the work that they want doing on their trees has gained us more work. A customer recently told us that we quoted a higher price than one of our competitors, but they chose us to do the job because we knew what we were talking about'.
If you need a free quote for tree surgery/garden maintenance work, you can contact Neil and Sharon on: 01270 753072 or e-mail them at astra-tree@tiscali.co.uk .