Pinchbeck man has turned his part-time hobby until his full-time occupation

For some people, 2020 has been a time of furlough and redundancy.

Richard Gosling is a case in point but he turned the situation to his advantage by making a part-time hobby his full-time occupation.

The 47-year-old, from Pinchbeck, is the owner and sole employee of RS Gosling UPVC Ltd, which supplies and fits uPVC and wooden windows, doors, conservatories and orangeries.

And with his added skills as a carpenter, Richard is finding a steady flow of work to ease his worries about taking the plunge and going self-employed.

After 24 years as a customer service manager in the construction industry, he was furloughed earlier this year and then made redundant in July.

Since 2001, he had run the windows and doors job in the evenings and weekends.

“Ultimately, it has given me the base to do it full-time. It was kind of now or never,” said Richard. “I used to travel more than an hour to the office and I thought I’d miss being out and about in the car – but I don’t.

“I’m a bit nervous and still at that stage where I hope I’ll look back in a year’s time and say it’s gone all right.”

It’s certainly started promisingly - one of his early commissions was the replacement of 28 sliding sash windows and a set of French doors at The Parsonage in Spalding’s Halmer Gate, the family home of the Rev John Bennett, vicar of St Mary and St Nicolas, which is provided by a local charity.

Word of Richard’s trusted and reliable work through customers, friends and former work connections is leading him from one job to another.

“When you look at it, you’ve got to be quite proud of that,” said Richard, whose recent refurbishment of a beach hut in Old Hunstanton with a new roof and cladding led to an order for bi-fold doors at a property nearby.

Keeping work to within about a 50-mile radius of Spalding, Richard believes customers appreciate dealing with the same person from start to finish.

“I think it’s a trust thing. People want to talk to the one doing the job, rather than seeing it sub-contracted out.

“I’ve got a couple of people I call on to help. If it carries on as it is, I can see me taking someone on permanently, but not much more than that.”

RS Gosling UPVC, which also sorts problems such as broken down sealed units, can be contacted on 07803 182058 or found on Facebook.