On March 23, 2020, the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, ordered people to “stay at home” as the UK’s first Covid lockdown came into play. It was a worrying time for everyone – but imagine if you were just launching your own business.
On the fifth anniversary of that first lockdown, Teesside Live has been talking to brave and determined Teesside entrepreurs - from a therapist to a 'pasta man' - and they all have a couple of things in common. They all started their ventures during lockdown, and more importantly they all pulled through.
Here the awe-inspiring firm owners lift the lid on their unique once in a lifetime tale of starting a business in lockdown.
The Feel Amazing Therapist
Lockdown changed many lives – but few people can have experienced such a life path shift as Ruth Smith. Going into Covid, the Marske mum-of-two was working for transport company Isotank and still coming to terms with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
That MS bombshell left her, she says, “grieving for the life I once had” and, during lockdown, shielding, due to her immune suppressant medication. A pivotal moment came when her MS nurse told her she might one day lose the ability to use her hands and need help eating.
Her father’s light-hearted response - joking that he would feed her salad - sparked a shift in her mindset. From that moment, Ruth decided to try and embrace life fully and push past her fears.
Struggling with isolation and declining mental health during Covid, she sought help from an online life coach – and the result literally was life-changing. Through early morning walks and mindset challenges, she rediscovered her confidence and purpose. At 48, she says, she finally knew what she wanted to be when she "grew up."
Determined to help others, Ruth invested her savings and trained for two years, becoming a Master NLP Practitioner and launching her business as “The Feel Amazing Therapist”. Now, she empowers individuals and schoolchildren to overcome emotional barriers, embrace positivity and change their outlook on life.
She’s an award-winner too, having picked up the “In Business” category at the recent Inspiring Women Awards. As part of her journey, Ruth – who still works two days a week for Isotank (now Depot Connect International) – also discovered the incredible benefits of cold water swimming.
People often told her, “I want to try that, but…” So, Ruth removed the "but", invested further in her business and launched Chill To Fulfill, a new venture that offers a powerful combination of mindfulness, cold water and heat therapy, helping people experience the mental and physical benefits of contrast therapy in a safe and supportive environment.
Looking back, Ruth told Teesside Live: “Covid was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions and certainly life-changing. And self-employment isn’t for the faint-hearted—it’s hard work and my disability adds extra challenges.
"But the freedom and fulfilment of helping others make it all worthwhile. Being nominated by four people for the Inspiring Women award was an honour in itself, but to win was incredible. It proves that taking risks, embracing change and believing in yourself can lead to amazing things."
Visit https://www.thefeelamazingtherapist.co.uk
The Pasta Man
When lockdown temporarily closed his thriving restaurant, Café Lilli boss Roberto Pittalis decided to see it as an opportunity. Rather than bemoan the Norton eaterie’s enforced closure, it gave Roberto the time to explore creating a gluten-free pasta range based on legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and beans.
Five years on, his venture, The Pasta Man, is thriving – and the ever-popular Café Lilli he still owns and runs is celebrating its 21st birthday. But the Sardinian-born restaurateur says his pasta side venture may not have happened without that enforced Covid break.
He told Teesside Live: “It was something I had in mind for a while before Covid because the demand for gluten-free products was increasing in the restaurant. I had two options – carry on what I'd been doing all my life and wait for the restaurant to reopen or use it as a great opportunity to experiment and try something.
“I probably wouldn’t have the time or chance to do it in normal daily life and if it didn't work, fine – the loss would have been marginal and I knew I’d have my restaurant back.”
But work it did – and it now churns out between 200 to 250 bags of legume-based pasta a week. Initially, Roberto tested it on customers when Café Lilli reopened after Covid.
He said: “Of the 600 to 700 covers a week, we had probably three or four people who noticed something different. It’s not that they didn’t like it, they could just tell something had changed – but no one else made any mention of it.
“That was a key moment because if the customers of Caffe Lilli didn’t like it, The Pasta Man would not have continued. But I had a great opportunity to test it in my own restaurant, and it more than passed the test.”
The pasta is currently produced at Café Lilli – although maybe not for much longer.
Roberto, 56, explained: “I need to take it to a different level because bigger production is required, so I’m looking at new premises in North Yorkshire and taking on some people to help with things like marketing and the production line.”
He added: “People love the product, so it’s time to move to the next stage. But it might not have happened without that Covid break.”
Visit https://www.thepastamanshop.co.uk
C.A.M. Family Meats
Butcher Colin Mackenzie had to think on his feet when Covid forced the shutters down on his new unit after just 10 days. After decades in the trade, Colin – along with son Craig – decided to take on a unit in Middlesbrough ’s Dundas Shopping Centre after the former owner decided to hang up his apron.
Yet less than a fortnight in, they had to close – prompting a quickfire decision to do deliveries.
Colin recalls: “The market manager said everyone had to close, so we put the shutters down and started a delivery service. I thought we were knackered – dead in the woods.
"I’d paid out to buy this and that, four or five grand on stock. But the deliveries saved us.
"We kept the doors shut, worked in the back and to be honest, the deliveries almost got too much – I told my daughter we had to keep it down to 25. I was starting at 5am and working until 9pm some nights.
“We’d go out, all masked up, in a delivery van and people would leave money under plant pots or under the mat, all sorts. And it was like a ghost town on the roads.”
After lockdown, the unit reopened, initially three days a week but now back up to six, and with hand sanitiser on the counters – bottles of which Colin still puts out to this day. They still do deliveries, although nowhere near as much.
The business remains a family affair too, with daughter Victoria also helping out. Being a Teesside butcher, parmos are among the most popular items sold.
And with price rises proving a constant issue, Colin hopes more people will get back out to town centres and support their local retailers.But he admits that had they not gone out on the road during lockdown, the firm – which rebranded as C.A.M Family Meats after a year, based on the initials of Colin and Craig – wouldn’t be here today.
He said: “It’s about perseverance, isn’t it? You just keep going and trust that people will support you.”
iGaming Agency
Setting up any business is a gamble – although the odds of success surely aren’t helped when you launch during in Covid. But that’s exactly what pals Richard Paget, Chris O’Rourke and Chris Sutherland did five years ago when launching an iGaming and online betting agency – and they haven’t looked back.
The trio launched Affili8 in March 2020, just days before the first lockdown, with a view to building a large affiliate marketing network and selling it on. Luckily, they landed some contracts providing digital marketing services to several substantial clients in the gambling sector – and the subsequent successful delivery of a range of projects saw them offered more work providing digital marketing services in the gambling industry.
Launching in Covid hampered their ability to get staff and build a team – although as lockdowns were lifted, the people they recruited were keen to work from their Stockton office rather than from home. And while attracting talent was tricky, having three owners and directors meant they had each other to lean on.
Chris O’Rourke said: “I think for other businesses with a sole owner or director, it could have been a tricky/ lonely time. We were lucky to land investment from an angel investor towards the end of 2020 which helped us to plan and grow the business.
“Because of that investment, we could run at a loss for the first couple of years as we invested in growth. But growth has been good in the last 12 months and looking strong going forward - we expect to hit our first year of more than £1m in revenue in 2025-26.”
Now under the trading name iGaming Agency, the firm continues to go from strength to strength, helping casinos and other betting sites get visibility online through Google and other channels. It’s also investing in new services for clients such as digital PR, getting its clients featured in high-profile media outlets globally.
The digital pr service has quickly grown and now generates 30% of the firm’s revenues – and that’s expected to triple in the next year.
But how does Chris look back on the past five years? “Covid presented challenges for sure, but as we’d never run a business prior to setting up Affili8, we had nothing to compare it to. So, as problems presented themselves, we just tackled them one at a time and tried to learn from them.
“We don’t often reflect too much on what’s happened within the business and keep focusing on what’s in front of us, but Covid did show us that we need to be flexible and willing to pivot when we need to.”
Visit igaming-agency.com
Check out our other Covid lockdown anniversary stories here:
- Gallery of Teesside's not so fresh trims on fifth anniversary of first Covid lockdown
- 63% of Teessiders say lockdown was correct way to deal with Covid-19 but only 7% felt content
- Lookback at Grove Hill VE Day street party with loo roll bingo, hotdogs and 'Oops Upside Your Head'
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