A television producer who was unemployed for 16 months turned to selling firewood to keep his family afloat during the recession.
Mr Matthew Patnick (44) of Fosse Road, Farndon, was used to working with famous actors and managing multi-million-pound budgets and had no previous knowledge of selling firewood before he launched his business in October.
Mr Patnick, who worked for the BBC for 13 years before leaving to become freelance, worked on Teachers, Waking The Dead, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Murder In Suburbia, and Hotel Babylon, with stars such as Joan Collins, Jimmy Nail and Kevin Whately.
The longest he had ever been out of work in eight years was two months until he finished working on Hotel Babylon in March 2008 and could not get another job.
Mr Patnick said he never expected to be out of work for so long.
“The television industry is normally bullet-proof in a recession but ITV and BBC stopped commissioning and making new dramas,” he said.
A friend, whose brother used to sell logs, suggested he started a business selling firewood for open fires and wood-burning stoves.
Mr Patnick did some research on the internet. He borrowed money from family and friends, including money to travel to Sweden to look at a second-hand wood-cutting machine.
He asked for favours from contacts in the television production industry to ship the machine back to England at a reduced price. He bought a tractor and a kiln through eBay.
Mr Patnick said the business went from strength to strength after he advertised in the Advertiser and the Trader.
He now has contracts with Fire and Ice in West Bridgford and Grange Reproductions, Farndon Road, Newark.
He employs a member of staff who works three days a week and has bought a van for delivering logs to customers in the Newark, Nottingham and Lincoln areas.
Mr Patnick said the business was seasonal and ran mainly from September to March although he was still making regular deliveries in the summer. During the snow in February he struggled to keep up with demand.
He said: “There were times when I was chopping logs in the rain and freezing cold and wondered why I was doing it.”
He said it had given him dignity and self-respect and taught him the importance of friends and family. He wanted his experience to give hope to others in a similar situation.
Mr Patnick said: “They say the most successful businesses start in a recession because those are the people who have the hunger to make it succeed.”
The wood is delivered in 2.8m lengths before it is cut into smaller sections at Hardys in Farndon. The hardwood is a mixture of beech, sycamore and ash and is from sustainable sources. He also supplies applewood as an alternative to charcoal on barbecues.
He stores the logs in a purpose-built shed at his home.
“I plan to build this up each year — to take more wood and get more customers and see where it takes me,” he said.
Mr Patnick is currently in preproduction ahead of filming 20 episodes of The Freaky Farleys, starting in October on the Nickelodeon channel.
As the log business grows Mr Patnick’s wife, Mrs Sally Patnick, a freelance make-up artist, and his children, Millie (14) and Liza (11) will take on a more hands-on role.
He also sells handmade log stores and is planning to start selling outdoor wood-burning pizza ovens via his website <a target="_blank" href="http://www.logs2buy.com">www.logs2buy.com</a>
