Life after redundancy – how Ballymena man saw new business opportunity

When Trevor McDevitte from Ballymena was made redundant 10 years ago from a civil and structural engineering consultancy, he said it was like his ‘‘whole world had just stopped dead.’’

The 45-year-old had worked at the firm for three and a half years and said: ‘‘To have the rug pulled from under you like that....it was a massive shock.

‘‘We had three days’ notice and basically told not to come back after the Friday. I had my outgoings, like everybody else, and in an instant my income was just stopped dead.

‘‘I had to sell my house in Belfast and move back to my parents after I was made redundant as I couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage. This was very tough on them and me both.’’

But, with a positive outlook on life, Trevor said he knew there was something else for him out there.

‘‘I know that is not the case for everybody, but my feeling was, these things happen for a reason, even though it wasn’t immediately apparent at the time.

‘‘I just knew there was something I could do. My gut feeling was that it was the start of something, rather than the end.’’

That start, was Trevor’s decision to set up an embroidery business.

‘‘I bought an embroidery machine about 20 years ago as a bit of a hobby.

‘‘It sat in the bedroom for eight or nine years and it was never turned on, except maybe to do a bit for a friend.

‘‘So when the company I worked for went bust I looked at it and wondered if I could make it into a business.’’

Trevor followed his instincts and decided to give it a go, running the business, Sewpro, initially, from his parents’ spare room.

‘‘It’s all I could do, I couldn’t afford to rent somewhere, like a business unit. So I just worked from home and squeezed a lot of my friends for work, basically anything I was a member of, like the Boy’s Brigade and the motorbike club I was in - they would put a bit of work my way if they were doing an event.

‘‘I said I would give it six months, and then after that I thought I’ll give it a year, then I decided to give it two years... I’m still here now, there’s no turning back.’’

Although Trevor’s business is going well now, he admits the first few years were tough.

‘‘For the first three years after starting the business it was really hard keeping my head above water.

‘‘I’ll not lie, I don’t know how many times I could have called it quits and declared myself bankrupt, but I managed to muddle through.

‘‘But I really enjoyed what I was doing, so I think that made the difference.

‘‘Anything I did get, I just put back into the business - I bought a decent computer or whatever I needed for the business.

‘‘I kept my head above water, then after three years I bought a second machine and I thought it was time to think seriously about making it into a proper business, rather than a bedroom hobby - it didn’t look too professional when folk have to come to your house to sort out clothing.’’

Seven years ago Trevor approached the Ballymena Business Centre and took a unit.

Ballymena Business Centre is a charity committed to promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship in the greater Ballymena area of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. They offer advice, workshops and support for business start-ups.

Trevor said: ‘‘They offer courses and if there is ever any business loans they’ll always flag them up to you in case you are wanting to try and expand or looking for new machinery.

‘‘Sometimes there are grants that come around and they are great with helping you go through the paperwork for that.’’

Trevor now has one part-time employee and the firm specialises in providing quality embroidered school wear, workwear, sports wear as well as promotional products for individuals, groups / organisations and corporate customers.

And business is going well.

‘‘It can take a long time to get new customers on board, but usually once they are on board we can keep them OK.’’

As someone who has experience of redundancy, Trevor can empathise with Wrightbus and Thomas Cook employees, but he believes that with the right attitude you can turn a seemingly hopeless situation into a positive.

‘‘Even though it seems like it’s the end of the world when these things happen, there are definitely opportunities out there.

‘‘It is more about your attitude to what has happened, than what has actually happened.

‘‘You can’t change what’s been done and no matter how much bad feeling you have towards where you were before, you just have to put that to the side and keep on plugging on.

‘‘There are jobs out there and if you are willing to go and look for them and you are willing to do a day’s work, you’ll get something. I know that makes it sound very simple, I know it’s not, it wasn’t easy for me for three years.’’

He added: ‘‘I also learned during the first three years after the redundancy how little I really needed to get by on and what the essentials were rather than wasting money as I would have done before.

‘‘It toughens you up a bit and you realise you are just going to have to graft.

‘‘There will be no shortcuts; there’s no way they (Wrightbus employees) will walk into an equivalent job for the same money now that they are used to, so you are going to have to cut your cloth accordingly, which is doable - everybody can do that, it’s only a temporary thing.

‘‘It might take you two or three years to find your feet again, but it’ll come.’’