A Honiton resident has started his own electrician business having lost his job due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrew Palmer had been working on large national contracts all over the country doing electrical testing and inspection on large commercial buildings such as supermarkets and petrol filling stations as well as farms, schools and libraries.

But when lockdown hit, the 45-year-old lost his job and, like many others, was facing an uncertain future.

He used the lockdown period to study further and gain more qualifications so decided to start his own electrician business, Honiton Electrix.

His partner, Bryony, said: “This is something completely new, he was actually quite nervous about it. He has always had the security of a salaried position to pay the bills so not knowing what your income is going to be is quite nerve-wracking.

“However, the benefits are being your own boss, being accountable and for Andrew not having to travel all over the country and stay away every week as he did in his old job, so better quality of life.”

Andrew was able to finance the business thanks to a grant from the Jobcentre. Bryony said: “Andrew contacted the Jobcentre and they put him touch with a business mentor to discuss his needs and they advised what he should apply for.

“He had to put together a business case which basically involved proving he had thought about where he would get his business from, the reason to believe this, what he needed to purchase in order to be able to trade and how much it would cost.

“Within seven days of submitting this, the grant was secured. Andrew then purchased his equipment, uniform and advertising and submitted the receipts to receive the money back.”

He started trading on August 24 and business has been picking up. Bryony said: “A lot of people are building wooden garden offices as they are now working from home so we have been running out and installing the electrics for them.

“Legislation has changed so that landlords now require an Electrical Inspection Condition Report for newly rented accommodation which is Andrew’s background so we have also been doing these.

“In June next year, it will be all rented accommodation so we really hope it will pick up more then and of course all the little bread and butter jobs like installing new lights and sockets etc.”

You can find out more about the company at www.honitonelectrix.com or by phone at 07791 045083.